


fish rot from the head

by Nilahxapiel



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Angst, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Gothic, Human Trafficking, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Interspecies Romance, Language Barrier, M/M, Mermaids Are Nonbinary, Murder Mystery, Nonbinary Character, Romance, Sea Monsters, Seaside, Sickfic, more than a Case Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-06-25 14:45:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19747867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nilahxapiel/pseuds/Nilahxapiel
Summary: "Merpeople kill thousands of sailors a year" factoid is actually a statistical error. Average merperson kills 0 sailors a year. Kira, who lures thousands of sailors to their watery dooms each year, is an outlier and should not have been counted.Or, detective and non-believer L Lawliet is sent to investigate the consistent loss of crews on 'research' ships and finds more than just answers.





	1. if you think you know enough to know, you know we've had enough

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to hazelpine for her contribution to RAICES and her Mermaid AU prompt. 
> 
> I'm way too excited about this story. I hope you enjoy.

L is seasick.

He’s keeping his eyes closed and lying on the couch, listening to his apprentices bicker and chatter on the deck just above his head. The window is open and a white curtain is ruffling gently on the breeze and waves crashing against the belly of the ship creates a white noise just beneath it.

Mihael’s voice rings clear above it all. Mail’s follows at a more reasonable volume, though still quite audible. L tries to tune them out, which means he ends up eavesdropping on the entire conversation.

“Weren’t we sent here by the Sovereign himself, weren’t we? You’d think the rich bastard would have a nicer boat to lend us if this case is really _such_ a high priority.”

“He does, but not for us.”

“It’s bullshit! He acts like this is some huge emergency and then he can’t be bothered to put his money where his mouth is.”

“That’s royalty for you.”

“I’ll bet he doesn’t even pay the full amount when we’re through with it.”

“Men like that never want to part with their gold.”

“Spoiled brats, all of them. I heard that even the Sovereign's consorts are escorted in little carriages wherever they go. Imagine that, never letting your dainty little feet touch the ground.”

_Spoiled brats indeed,_ L thought, daring to crack his eye open.

“He gets credit for hiring the world’s best detective,” Mihael says. “It makes him look like a concerned philanthropist.”

“And gives the families of the researchers hope,” Mail muses.

“All because one of them washed up on this island, too. C’mon, we’re not going to find _all_ the bodies of lost fishermen. It’s kind of a dangerous job.”

“Not fishermen, _researchers_ ,” Matt corrects in his most sardonic tone.

“Yeah, of course,” Mail snorts. “They get tons of immigrants that wash up dead on this island, trying to swim passed it to the mainland, but the body of one one dead researcher shows up...”

“I’m telling you, we’re not actually meant to figure this out,” Mihael brandishes a finger in Mail’s direction. “It just looks good to the families of those researchers, who are desperate and grieving.”

“We’re detectives, not fucking meteorologists or whatever, and we’re definitely not pirate hunters.”

“As awesome as that would be,” Mihael admits. “They’re just taking advantage of L’s reputation while we do all the work.”

“And what work are you doing, exactly?” 

The wry voice of his benefactor and mentor, Quillish, is a welcome reprieve.

“I don’t mean _now_ ,” Mihael answers, not sheepish at all, “Now is for tea.”

“It is?” Mail laughs, “I don’t see any tea.”

“Nor do I,” Quillish confirms dryly.

“I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.”

“Rather, you hoped I’d be around to make some,” Quillish corrects, and there is the shuffling sound of his robes and the telltale grunt exertion as he sits down.

“Fiiine, I’ll make it,” Mihael huffs, chair legs scraping over the boards as he stands up.

It’s only because L wants tea does he decide to pry himself up from the pillows. He’s still somewhat dizzy from the roll of the ocean beneath him, but he hopes that tea will settle his stomach.

“Make enough for me,” L grumbles as he ascends the stair to the deck, rubbing at his temples. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Mihael says as he slips past L and into the small kitchen compartment to put the kettle on. “Wait, Mail why aren’t making us tea? You’re my assistant. Get in here.”

“You’re already up!”

“Why did I agree to an assistant again?” L grouses, climbing into the chair across from Watari and resting his head on his knees. “All this bickering…”

“Whatever,” Mihael mutters. 

The clink of the kettle being put on the stove comes a moment later. Mail sinks back into his chair and crosses his arms behind his head.

“Have you thought through any preliminary theories?” Quillish asks him after only a beat.

“Just the obvious."

“So you don’t think it’s mermaids?”

“Of course he doesn’t,” Mihael snarks, stepping out of the kitchen with his hands on his hips.

“Well, _I_ think it’s actually mermaids,” Mail says.

Mihael shoots him a sharp look. L rolls his eyes up to the sky, watching grey spread in perilous heaps across the stretch of blue. 

“C’mon,” Mihael scoffs.

L looks back at him and notices that Mihael’s gaze is flickering toward his own, clearly interested in his take. Many people were, and his apprentice was no exception. The disappearances of research crews on the water is a popular mystery of late.

“Think about it, most of the ocean is totally unexplored!” Mail barges on, raising his hands up into the air. “If aliens exist in outer space somewhere that have developed similarly to us, and it’s statistically probable they do, then why not mermaids?”

“Do you believe in Bigfoot, too?”

“I believe that something approximately like Bigfoot could conceivably exist based on the crazy shit that does actually evolve on this ridiculous ass planet.”

L mulls this over briefly.

“Fair enough,” he says after a moment.

“Mermaids it is then,” Quillish agrees sagely, giving a curt nod.

Mihael rolls his eyes.

“Not that mermaids aren’t cool as hell, but they can’t actually exist,” Mihael stops talking when the kettle goes off, and retreats to get the tea tray. 

L thinks he would have definitely fallen over and smashed all of Quillish’s china, where he left up to the task. He can feel the ocean roll beneath him and he has to close his eyes briefly.

“My money is on pirates,” Mihael continues, setting the tray down. 

L opens his eyes and watches Quillish carefully pour the water into each of their cups. He sits up and they each proceed to doctor up their tea to their tastes as Mihael keeps on. 

“The bodies that have washed up on the island are always just drowned, no sign of struggle, none of them tied up,” L tells them, tilting his head.“Polite pirates.”

“Alright, I guess it could be some kind of Bermuda Triangle situation too,” Mihael concedes thoughtfully, “but we found the ship, just none of the crew members were on it. That’s not typical.”

“None of this is typical,” Mail says, “Which is why I say _mermaids._ ”

“The islanders don’t think Kira is a mermaid per se, though their legends do seem to have a disproportionate amount of merfolk. They are a sea based culture, their entire way of life is based around their ports and water systems in alliance with the Sovereign,” L explains quietly, plucking up sugar cubes one by one and plonking them into his tea. After a moment, he wiggles his fingers to be mockingly ominous. “They believe he is a God of the Sea, seeking revenge on the evil doers who have polluted their waters and therefore their fish supply. They say it is a creature that ‘illuminates the water in all colors’, though I can’t be certain of the translation. ”

“So they definitely have mushrooms on this island, that’s what you’re saying,” Mihael snorts.

“And I thought this trip would be boring,” Mail says.

L stirs his tea and smiles without humor. “Some of them are thankful for the disappearances, and even pray to Kira in hopes he will hunt others.”

“Thankful?” Mihael frowns. “What, because of the oil spill?”

“Which one?” Quillish inquires with a pointed sip of his tea.

Mihael purses his lips briefly, then waves a hand. 

“Researchers aren’t the ones who caused that though. They’re scientists.”

“The villagers assign their own motives to figments, and I don’t exactly blame them for their feelings on the matter,” L sighs. “As soon as there is evidence of the unnatural, I will accommodate my thinking.”

L shrugs and continues.

“For now, the ocean is full of _observable_ phenomenon that have made crews go missing for centuries. There is no need to create imaginary troubles when the world is rife with tangible ones.”

“But I really want it to be mermaids,” Mail refutes, in a playful yet sensible fashion.

“I hope to convey this without invalidating the experience of the island villagers,” L drawls as he sets down his teaspoon delicately. “but they are uneducated, poverty-stricken, and are said to drink the salt water. More likely than the existance of a completely undocumented sea creature is that their mythological belief system, combined with sickness, malnurishment, and a distrust of science, has convinced them of the validity of their hallucinations.”

Another swell in the water beneath the boat makes his insides flip.

“Drink,” Quillish reminds him, “It will settle your stomach.”

L finally lifts his cup to his mouth. It’s immediately apparent that there isn’t enough sugar for his liking and he lowers his cup to his tea plate to add more.

“After that it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” L explains idly, “When one believes in ghosts, every creak in the floorboards and wail of the wind is evidence of the supernatural.”

* * *

The names of humans are not important to them so much as their ability to distinguish one from the other for the sake of strategic planning.

Assigning code names based on distinguishing characteristics is useful for the sake of keeping track, though they would not know how to describe such code names to humans. Nor would they ever need to.

Their language is rarely verbal. The way their people communicate is only sometimes audible - clicks and whistles, mostly - but in more cases, body language, touch, or purely sensory based electromagnetic pulses are best for the situation.

Loud, Mild, Wisp, and Low are the closest approximations possible for these four. The quality of voices is all they has to go off of, and they're just humans, so they refuse to linger too long on naming them.

Humans are rotten creatures, after all.

Their own name is non-verbal, one that can only be sensed electromagnetically, and therefore one humans will never truly hear and never truly say. It is less of a word than a phrase, or a concept, and they like that about it.

It is a term for the glow from the sun when their kind are too close to the surface. It’s correlated emotions are a paradox, something like danger, and something like beauty.

The humans call them Kira, and they can’t help but like that name too. 

Enough sailors have met their gaze and uttered it as their last word for them to know for sure. 

Their heart pounds against their chest while they listen to the newcomers speak from the water below, holding onto a rivet in the siding. Farther away, they sense the humans’ heartbeats too. 

The water rushes against them in a way it never does when they swims under the surface, tickling their neck in a series of steady splashes. It is pleasantly warm up here. Though they know that such temperatures foretell a storm, they enjoy it anyway. They will need to move to calmer waters soon to avoid the havoc caused, but they are prepared; they have a freshwater retreat near the island’s most southern waterfall that has yet to fail him. 

They note the words that are familiar as the humans chitter at one another. 

After years of listening in on humans, they have grown to recognize some of their words, often used phrases and the like, but just hearing hasn't given them too much to go off of. Much meaning is lost on them, but then, meaning is not why they are here.

The few words they know well - like  _ sea _ , and  _ water _ , and  _ ship _ , among a few others- are those they have discerned from an old map that had fallen from one of the dead sailors hands. The visuals had helped them understand humans’ rudimentary grasp on directions and ocean travel.

They also know the written symbol for a particular group of humans, though they do not know what sound is assigned to it. There  _ is  _ a feeling attributed to it, however, an emotion linked in their memory the likes of which made the water seem to boil around him.

The symbol had been on that map, the red ideogram, the crooked cross.

As it was on every ship that Kira brought to justice, as it was on this ship as well.

This boat is not a research ship, however. It isn’t large enough, and doesn’t have any nets. They’d been observing it for some time, and hadn’t seen so much as a wire.

“Kira.”

The word singles itself out, even though Low does not project when speaking. It is as though they talk around a mild obstruction.

“Kira,” agrees Loud, among a flurry of other harsh sounds.

These humans aren’t here with nets, which is odd, but they might be here for him. 

The nets will come later. They always do.

Kira takes a gulp of air and then disappears back beneath the surface. The newcomers have not proven themselves to be a threat yet and a storm is on the horizon. They need to eat something.

They see Ryuk in the distance, a dark blur in the water. Their acquaintance is close enough to the surface that their dorsal fin will be sticking out. 

The shark gapes their jaw, asking in their way, ‘ _ will you kill them?’ _

Kira is low enough in the water to risk flashing an ambivalent hue in Ryuk’s direction.

‘ _ Maybe’  _ the glow says. They may not be researchers, but they are still human. They are always more harmful alive than they are dead. 

The shark closes and opens their mouth again, expelling a burst of air. It’s a brief glug of a sound that if they didn’t know better, they would think was a laugh.

Kira conveys a sense of urgency with a brief beat of green, ‘ _ time to go’. _

They can’t breathe down below anymore, so before long they have to peak their head back above the surface of the water to take a gulp of air. There will be a long journey through a winding cave that leads to their waterfall. The brackish water there will be a nice change from the muck out here, and although the promise of a storm is never without its anxieties, they find they are looking forward to it.

The ships will all be docked. Humans rarely venture out in such weather, so they will be able to rest before their next swim into the deep.

Soon they are swimming farther into the rock foundation than Ryuk can, their ray-finned body moving through the cave with slippery ease. It takes perhaps five minutes for them to make it through to the cave system, at which point they have to break the surface again for air. 

This is always where they have to be the most careful. The estuary is close enough to the village that they have occasionally surfaced for air here and seen humans in the distance. They try to wait until they are close to the waterfall, so that the drum of it overwhelms any sound that might draw human attention. Not all is avoidable, but they have not been caught yet.

Their biofluorescence can sometimes slip out of their control when they are short on breath, which is more and more often. It was so much easier when they could breathe in water too, but there is no use brooding over what has been lost. 

It is another series of seconds before they reach the falls.

At first, their skin is too slick to climb up the rock, their hands unable catch a grip. Oily fingers claw frustratedly for several seconds before they find a spot porous enough to dig their fingers into.

They heave themself up, and their stomach heaves immediately after. What comes out the same colorful metallic substance that coats their skin and scales. It slides down the curve of the rock and back into the water, a bead of something viscous reflecting prisms of light.

  
  
  



	2. bang your head like a gong, 'cause you called it all wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merfolk don't do gender-specific pronouns. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ I fixed the last chapter and it will continue from here on out.

The mansion that the Sovereign has put them up in is extravagant, even compared to Quillish’s estate back in his old country. 

This is not to say it is more attractive. The hard lines, sparse furniture, and monotone decor culminates in an environment that is rigid at best and eerie at worst. 

It sits fair away from the main road and is cradled against a cliff wall for support, with a lovely view of the estuary on the South facing windows, and the ocean beyond it. The windows are floor to ceiling and curtains can be deployed electronically just by saying the word 'curtains' distinctly.

The house goes beyond modern, over the line into sterile. The furniture is all oddly shaped and uncomfortable. He’d have to have something delivered that was more to his taste. 

“Who’s house is this again?” Mihael asks.

“I forget,” L says.

“I’ll write a letter to the Sovereign,” Mail suggests jauntily. “Dearest Majesty, thanks, I hate it.”

"I dunno, it’s not that bad. A white on off-white on light grey color scheme?" Mihael notes. "I’m inspired by the sheer creativity."

“Well,” L mutters, already starting for the stairs. He’s spent quite long enough in the company of his apprentices. Quillish has already found a room to retire to, and L intends to follow his example. “They didn’t have any problem finding matching appliances.”

Mihael snorts and breaks off into a different direction to explore. 

“I’m pretty sure you can’t just write a letter to the Sovereign, anyway.”

Mail’s voice carries over from another room.

“Well, it’s not like I can just text him - oh my  _ god _ .”

“They have an indoor pool!”

Mihael all but sprints away, and L listens to the teenage dramatics the whole time he ascents the gently curving stairs. The steps are cold under his bare feet.

“Holy shit, a whole wall of their pool is glass and looks out into their dining room!”

“Their dining room is over here,” Mail corrects from somewhere else. “So that’s gotta be the dining  _ hall  _ or the  _ ballroom _ or some shit.”

“The size of this television is almost too much actually.”

“Pfft. No such thing.”

Their voices only shut out completely when L’s door closes behind him.

Pleased to be off the boat but riddled with insomnia, L sits awake studying the language of the islander people for his interview in three days. He has been told that he will be speaking to their leader’s daughter, who is fluent in English, but he likes to be on the safe side. If nothing else, he finds that people find his unpleasant quirks easier to swallow when they feel he’s put in some effort.

It’s not that much effort. He’s quite good at languages, and rather enjoys the process of learning something new and intricate. 

He’s awake, so he might as well enjoy himself, in lieu of any real detective work.

The storm isn’t predicted to hit for another day or so, but it gets dark with clouds early into the evening. He sits on the bed, as it is the most comfortable surface available.

His phone rings. Unfortunately, he does not have the option to ignore it at this juncture. It would hardly be good business.

“Your Excellence,” L drawls, hoping he doesn’t sound as irritated as he feels. “You rang?”

“I’ll be quick, L. Are the accommodations to your liking?”

“Indeed. Most enjoyable,” L lies. “You must thank Higuchi for me.”

“You can thank him yourself. He lives in his main estate on the channel side of the island. You may want to pick his brain, in fact. He knows more about the island than anyone.”

“Noted.”

“I do hope you’re taking this seriously.”

“Oh, very,” L says flatly. “I plan to do my due diligence and gather all information available.”

“Good. I expect an update by the end of the week.”

“Of course.”

The call ends and he sighs, irritated by the entitlement. He doesn’t work for anyone but himself, but getting that through the Sovereign's head has proved next to impossible. Quillish keeps reminding him that making an enemy of such a man would be extremely inconvenient, which is the only realize he puts up with it.

He considers tossing his phone off of his balcony.  _ Can’t call anyone if you don’t have a phone. _

As his gaze wanders over to said balcony, he notices an odd discoloration coming from below. It isn’t so noticeable that he would have seen it if he hadn’t been looking in that particular direction from his perch on the bed. He almost thinks nothing of it, frustrated and out of energy.

His curiosity persists. It tends to.

L leaves his study material behind and bites down on his thumb as he opens the glass door. He pads to the railing, eyes scanning the horizon.

Most of the view is just water, with some reeds interrupting the waves here and there. There is a sliver of land curling into view down below however, with an unremarkable formation of rocks stretched across it. If he leans over the railing slightly, he can see where the odd trick of light reflects off of the smooth stone surfaces.

It starts as a soft green, then seems to turn slightly bluer, then back again.

That in itself is not particularly interesting, but the possible implications do peek his interest. Perhaps it’s just some kids with their cell phones or the water doing strange things in the moonlight, or the islanders performing some kind of ritual to honor Kira. 

He decides to do what he does best - investigate. The worst thing it could be is boring.

The trek takes only twenty minutes or so, though he’s sure that uphill will be significantly worse. The road they took to the house winds down the cliff steeply for a while and L has to be careful not to fall. He’s opted for shoes for once and has taken a flashlight with him, as the moon is hidden behind thick cloud cover.

The sound of a waterfall grows nearer. 

Looking up the incline, back at the mansion on the cliff, he tries to figure out the angle he’d seen the light from. He hasn’t been able to see it again during his walk, but if he can climb passed a gathering of rocks and make it closer to the falls, he might be able to see it again. If nothing else, he’ll have had a brisk walk and might be able to get some sleep after getting back.

He steps cautiously over a series of craggy rocks, then turns the corner to where they get smoother from weather and water. He has to duck his head to slide through a narrow opening, and then he’s in an alcove behind the waterfall, which is half crashing against a large boulder.

L blinks.

There’s a giant snake on the boulder.

No.

There’s a man on the boulder.

Wait, that isn’t right either.

What a stupid mistake to make. The two are very different.

At first L’s brain sees an unfortunate man being eaten by what appears to be a very large and gently glowing  _ eel _ , now that he sees the fins. His lungs seize up and his body freezes in place.

He’s wrong again. In fact, he is quite certain he’s never been more wrong than in this moment.

_ (What.) _

Because man has a -

( _ The.) _

-a tail. 

( _ Fuck. _ )

A  _ tail _ ?

“ _ I really want it to be mermaids, _ ” Mail’s silly voice says in his ear. It’s such a sharp and vibrant memory that it almost makes him flinch.

There’s no goddamn way. 

And yet -

L falls over, directly into the water.

He comes up sputtering, his hair plastered to his face. He grabs onto a divet in a rock and hoists himself back up onto it with ungainly limbs weighed down by wet clothes.

When he pushes his curtain of thick wet hair back out of his face, the man-eel is no longer on the rock. A hallucination then. 

Maybe there’s a gaseous leak in this area, which might explain the colorful phenomenon as well. That is the most likely answer. His mind has been filled with the legend of Kira for the last several weeks, so it is not ridiculous that he should see something of the sort.

But if so, he is in awe of the specificity of the vision that had appeared to him. 

He does not believe in tall tales, and so he had not lingered much on what Kira might look like.

The creature had been beautiful, certainly. His face creases with annoyance at his own laughable humanity. Honestly, as if the vengeful spirit of the ocean was made with his specifications of mystery and loveliness in mind. 

His mind, for all it’s good graces, is still awfully unsophisticated at times.

Suddenly, he is splashed in the face.

L coughs, as sour water manages to get up his nose this time. When he opens his eyes, it is to the same glow as before. Except now it is a sharp red, a clear warning signal.

The light shines in the water and carries, framing the line of the decidedly human head, neck, and shoulders. His hair is wet and plastered to his cheeks. His eyes are deep and dark, a little spec of red catching on them both. Aside from gils and glow, there is little about him that looks inhuman.

While he isn’t entirely convinced this isn’t a hallucination, he must trust himself and what he is seeing until other evidence is provided.

So L, with reluctance, adjusts his thinking.

“Kira, is it?”

The creature’s eyes narrow and his flicker as if in recognition. He looks at L from head to toe, his color taking on a light purple hue, his brow furrowing.

Confusion? Irritation?

Well, the mermaid, or man, whatever kind of sea creature he was - could join the club. He’d overreacted, in fact, which is decidedly uncharacteristic of him.

“That can’t be your real name though,” L murmurs, putting his thumb to his bottom lip. “If merpeople even have a concept of names. If there is one of you, there must be more. If your kind  _ is  _ actually responsible for the disappearances, it may not be you personally. With how many deaths there have been over the years, this could be a group activity.”

He receives a cold stare in return.

“I suppose you can’t understand me, can you? That does create something of a dilemma.”

L taps his fingers against his mouth, scrutinizing.

“Why not run from me though?"

New idea. He’ll try to speak in the islander language.

"Shouldn’t you be keeping yourself a secret?” L asks. No comprehension still. Back to English then.“You certainly kept yourself from me. The degree of oversight on my part is enormous. I’m actually starting to get kind of depressed about it. ”

The implications of an entirely new species existing is giving him an arsenal of questions the breadth of which is impossible to predict. 

Without a common tongue though, it seems like he is destined to be frustrated.

So L tries charades.

He points at the creature, then makes a little shooing gesture with his hand. L tilts his head and gives what he hopes is a harmless, questioning look.

For a moment it doesn’t seem to click, as the creature just blinks in his direction a few times. L is just starting to think it was silly of him to try communicating so soon when the creature’s mouth upturns in such a way that L is oddly endeared to, and then all at once deeply disturbed by.

The creature raises an arm, and copies him. 

Pointing, shooing motion, but no questioning look to speak of. With that chilling smile on his face, the creature had made it clear that he wasn’t just repeating the motion in a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ fashion. No, he was turning it around on L with spiteful comprehension.

‘No,  _ you  _ run.’

L finds it fit advice and makes haste.

* * *

The storm rages and passes over the course of the next day and night. They curl up in an air pocket beneath the rock formation that the waterfall cascades down.

That human, who they had deemed Low, had stumbled upon them. They knew it to be an accident based purely on the body language of the spindly creature they’d eavesdropped on previously. They hadn’t known what the human looked like, but they remembered the voice. 

Before they heard it, they’d assumed it was an islander. They had been near ready to attack when the human had cried out at the sight of them.

Perhaps they had not attacked the land creature immediately because the thing looked pitiful and scared. Or perhaps it was because the human didn’t seem to have any hunting equipment. Or perhaps the shock of the gangly figure falling bodily into the water with fright had dissuaded them.

Nothing about Low suggested violence. Physically, this human was harmless. 

Which is why when the human’s attempt at communication clicked, it was such a ridiculous notion they were genuinely amused by it for an instant, and then subsequently insulted.

‘ _ no, you run. _ ’

Exactly so.

The way the human had immediately scrambled to get away was a pleasant surprise. Usually humans associated with the red and crooked cross are not so easily deterred from conflict. 

For the duration of the storm, they stay huddled up with several other critters that had chosen to take refuge in this place. The pocket of air is enough to grant them breath. If it ever floods, they have found a secondary, drier alcove to hide in, but it is also more accessible to humans.

For now, this one will do. There is no telling how much time there is left.

They are careful when rising to the surface the next day, wading through the cloud of dust-like debris from the chaos of wind and rain. The fish in the surrounding area buzz with fear when they tune their electroreceptors in, but it they are decidedly less urgent than they were during the worst of the storm. The oil is still lingering at the lower levels, but should return to floating on the surface by the end of the day.

They rise slowly enough that the water breaks silently.

Their eye is drawn to the human, Low, almost immediately, though they haven’t been spotted in return just yet. The human is not as close as before, walking along the rise of land that they’d fled across little more than a day ago. 

They are quiet and careful as they observe, the waterline just below their eyes. 

No weapons yet again. The land creature looks alert, but Kira lurks in waiting, and Low should expect as much. There is nothing particularly alarming about the human’s disposition.

Low is in dry clothes at the moment. The wind picks up and ruffles both the dark tresses and the white of Low’s garments. Humans are fond of such coverings, but it is not totally foreign to them; they’d seen merfolk ornament themselves with plants and shells before.

Kira listens to Low’s heartbeat rise and fall steadily.

Somewhere else, two different heartbeats quicken, raising his hackles. Two humans are stressed and aggressive nearby, creating a siren between his ears. 

Kira needs to breathe before they go below again. They lift their head out of the water for long enough to draw in a deep breath.

It’s harder to do than it usually is. 

They cough, and try again.

A startling  _ sssthp  _ sound makes them linger a moment longer than they would have otherwise, their first instinct to locate the source, assess the danger. 

His assailant had been waiting for Kira then. An ambush, orchestrated by Low no doubt.

In the next second there is a rope around their neck and they are being pulled hard. Their torso comes out of the water but their long tail flails beneath the surface, dragging them back down. An outraged sound falls out of their mouth and they pull at the rope around their throat.

These reels are specifically designed for their kind. The machines creates leverage and have an automated pull mechanism so that a single human can catch a single one of their kind. It is currently at work, prying them out of the water despite the effort of their powerful tail. 

They are too slippery, too sick. Before long, they’re being dragged across pebbles and sand onto dry land. The hook they’ve been caught on digs in and burns. 

They begin to lose the game of tug-a-war.

  
  


Worse than that is the acute pain in their tail. They have seen these humans shoot their darts before, and they figure that they have a minute or so until they lose consciousness. 

Kira screams across the electric channel, alarming fish in the vicinity. They swim in manic circles. Though humans cannot hear it, they are nonetheless affected.

The pressure on their neck lets up abruptly. 

Their whole body jerks with relief. They toss their head to look at the human who had just let their reel go tumbling out of their hands, panting harshly as they holds the note.

As they always are, their attacker is in a crisp white uniform with a white mask.

The crooked cross is printed on their shoulders. 

No surprise there. 

However, the second figure is unexpected. Just a few yards away from where the researcher stands is Low, running in the angler’s direction. Low stumbles when Kira hits that note, but Light doesn’t hold it for long, just enough to get the reel out of the researcher’s hands.

They need to get back to the sea. The perilous sun is beating upon them, and they know they must get back, but their arms don’t want to work.

Low is approaching them in the last seconds of clarity they have.

“Water,” they try to say, just before the matter is taken out of their hands.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pretty happy with this chapter. let me know your favorite part/lines if something stands out. I'm particularly fond of L and Light's meeting, of course. but also 'villain entrance' was fun.
> 
> hopefully there's not too exposition for you, I've been trying to make it flow well, considering.
> 
> up next: "I can't believe it was fucking mermaids."


	3. our tails wagged and then fell off, but we just turned back

“You’re fucking with us.”

“Just drive down the way we came up and I’ll meet you at the road to lead you here. Bring a sheet. I can’t lift him myself, and we need to move quickly.”

“He’s fucking with us,” Mihael confirms, breathless. L wishes he were - it would be an excellent prank, if it weren’t so damnably true.

“Just hurry,” L sighs, and then hangs up his phone.

The creature was limp and stretched out along sand and pebbles, just a couple yards from the ocean. L had thought he’d heard the word ‘what’ or ‘water’ come out of its mouth, but he couldn’t be certain - he’d been working off of pure adrenaline. It had briefly seemed to short circuit his brain, in fact. There was part of his sprint back that he couldn’t remember.

He had returned to the place after the storm to see if it was true after all. He’d begun to doubt himself again, and hadn’t dared to bring it up to anyone. Quillish had noticed that his thoughts were straying more than usual, but L had avoided the question altogether.

The commotion occurred just as he was giving up on spotting the sea creature again, and he’d acted on instinct when he saw it being dragged out of the water. L had dashed in the uniformed figure’s direction, intent on getting answers.

The researcher wore the Sovereign's symbol, which added a new layer to the mystery. Not to mention a fair amount of frustration. If L had been sent here without all the information available, then he’d been handicapped on purpose.

After having dropped the reel by accident - an odd bit of luck - the researcher had fled.

L had chosen to stay here with the creature, who had glared at him as he tried to no avail to crawl back toward the water. The impossible thing had then proceeded to pass out, and after a quick inspection, L found the dart that was to blame. The researcher had been prepared, which was even more evidence that L had been lied to by his so-called superiors.

The clouds from the storm have mostly cleared and the sun beats down upon them both. He can’t stop looking at the creature, his eyes growing dry from lack of blinking. Part of him feels that it might disappear if he looked away for too long.

Even more ridiculous than the notion of merfolk having been real all of L’s life is that he isn’t entirely wrong about this.

Over the next half hour or so, the creature’s tail begins to _shed,_ for lack of a better word.

Mystified, L watches the entire process. It grows somewhat translucent, then begins to peel and fall away from the core form.

L bites his thumb hard, brow furrowing. 

By the time Mihael is calling him back to tell him they’re at the Southern-most bend in the road, the figure laid out before L is entirely human in appearance. The eel’s tail continues to crack and flake until it turns into sand beneath him.

L does blink then, several times, hard.

Yet the pair of long, pale legs does not disappear. 

While that does make the prospect of carrying it easier, it complicates other matters. Such as the fact that when he arrives at the road with the now-human over his shoulder, Mihael jumps out of the limousine, also courtesy of Higuchi’s estate, with an outraged expression on his face.

“That’s _not_ a fucking mermaid.”

“Not right now,” L agrees. He shoves the mechanical reel into Mihael’s hands. “Someone tried to catch him with that.”

The sliding window that separates the driver and passenger seat from the back. L doesn’t particularly care for the baffled expressions that his apprentices give him, or Quillish’ raised eyebrow. There isn’t time for their doubts, as hypocritical as that feels after his own derisive disbelief in what was now clearly a large gap in his learning.

He lays the now-human across the back seat and then drapes the sheet they’d brought along over the nude form. Mail breaks the silence from the passenger seat. 

"Is anyone else not entirely convinced we aren't just kidnapping some naked dude covered in oil?"

Mihael scowls, slamming the car door shut after he climbs back inside.

“And yet you’re still helping.”

Quillish begins to drive, doing a quick loop to head back toward the house.

“If L’s really gone off the deep end, I figure I probably shouldn’t make an enemy out of him.”

“Shut up,” Mihael snaps, then turns his eyes on L wearily. “So that’s really a mermaid?”

L nods, “The islanders call them _merma_ in their stories.”

The rest of the ride back to the mansion is silent. Mail listens to music on his headphones and Mihael keeps glancing at L wearily. 

When they arrive, Mail helps him carry the sheet-clad stranger through the front door. They decide to lay him out over the dining table rather than trying to get him up the stairs. L tells Mail to fetch soap and water so they can wipe some of the oil from his skin. 

L doesn’t intend to intrude upon the _merma’s_ modesty, so he keeps the sheet around the torso and hips. He does take the opportunity to do a casual inspection as he uses a washcloth to wipe the oil away from his face and upper body. 

No more gills. No tail, to trace of where fins used to be. His new legs are clean save for some sand and debris.

"Should we put him in water?” Mihael asks, frowning at him.

"His tail is too big for the tub if he turns back," L answers, only half listening.

“Shame,” Mihael says, “He could use a bath.”

L chooses to ignore the statement.

“We’ll wait until he wakes up,” L tells him instead, dipping the rag back into soap water. He rings it out and then starts sponging down the merma’s face. 

“If I were to to order something specific, there’s no telling when that could be delivered to the island,” Quillish informs them.

“I’m not saying I believe this yet,” Mail starts, crossing his arms over his chest. “But what you’re saying is...we’d need a large fish tank to put him in?”

“Ideally,” L confirms.

"You mean like the one that came with the house?"

Mihael turns to him. 

"You mean the _pool?_ "

"I did some snooping and, uh,” Mail shrugs, “It’s actually has a fully functioning salt water filtration system and protein skimmer."

They each look over their shoulders at the stretch of glass attached to the dining room. It glows, dimly lit and empty. Not a pool, but a truly enormous aquarium.

_Meant for this very purpose,_ L concludes, drawing his eyes back toward the sleeping figure.

"This also explains all the engraved mermaid trophies on display by the tank. I thought they were some kinda weird rich guy collector's item."

"They kinda are,” Mihael mutters. "The fuck."

L agrees with the sentiment.

* * *

When they awaken, it is with the groggy realization that they are _dry._

They twitch their fingers, expecting to feel the water shift. The absence of it jolts them awake, _they’ve been caught,_ and they slash their tail in a panicked flurry of motion.

Or, rather, they try to.

Their tail is decidedly weaker than usual, and they can’t help but think it must be due to the dart that had been lodged in them before the black out. They open their eyes but everything is blurry at first, and there is an unknown heartbeat in the room that they have yet to identify.

Something is wrong with them. With their body. 

They are also caught in something, but it doesn’t feel like a net, not exactly. It clings to their lower half and they tries to flail it off, but it isn’t working the way that it should. The fabric shifts as they try to sit up to assess the damage, only to find half of themself is _missing._

Human legs. They have _legs._

They must have been out of the water too long. 

A human voice comes from the direction of the heartbeat, coming closer. It’s Low’s voice, but that doesn’t do anything to calm them. They remember the researcher with the reel, remember Low rushing their way, then nothing. They had never made it back to the water, and under the wretched touch of the ever-brightening sun, his tail had returned to the sand.

Now they’re awake, dry, human, and...feeling healthier than they have in quite some time.

That said, there is no reason to believe that they have not been captured, that they will not now learn the fate of those who do not manage to evade the humans. They have always wanted to know, and they have always wanted to avoid finding out.

  
  


They try to get off the table, but their legs give out under them. They crumple with a frustrated noise in their throught, and then feel hands on their upper arms. Low seems to be trying to lift them up, but they don’t like the idea of that one bit. 

_Crack._

Their head connects with the underside of Low’s chin.

The human grunts and stumbles back, releasing Kira and toppling backwards onto the floor. It’s cold like stone against their skin, and their new limbs spark with pain. The joint midway down are a weakness. They tuck that away for the next altercation.

The cave these humans live in is unnatural looking. Man-made in every respect, to the point it is difficult to process what he’s seeing. The walls are hard, straight lines and sharp, perfect corners, as are the large square holes through which they can see the sky. 

A sweep of his eyes does not give him much hope. There is so little to hide behind or in between, tons of empty air between him and the item of furniture that might be used to obscure him. In any case, a hiding place could only buy him time.

There does not appear to be an avenue of escape, especially so far from water, with this half-stupid body that barely works.

They snap their head in Low’s direction.

The human is closer now, hands open to show their palms. No weapons, again. No net, unless this easily torn scrap of fabric could be called that.

They let this human live before, and now they were caught. They had been cursed with legs, which were utterly useless unless they knew how to use them. 

They thought for sure they would die soon from the sludge that had spread throughout their home, but they had thought they could at least avoid going the same way as so many of his kind had previously. Now, they will face the fate that their kind only know about through the brief electromagnetic signals that pulse in terror, before they disappear entirely.

This is all Low’s fault.

Kira attacks again, but this time the human defends themself. Blunt pain spreads across their cheek, and they go for the bite. Their teeth sink into Low’s forearm before they are being knocked in the stomach with the same portion of the leg they had just identified as a weakness moments before.

An instant later, there is a bare human foot pressed into their face, pinning them to the floor. Low’s leg is bent at an awkward angle above them. 

Fine, they’ll just use their -

Oh.

Their body is human now, in every respect. Humans do not have electroreceptors, and therefore they cannot connect to that channel of communication. 

They are human, for now. They are helpless in this state. Humans have the advantage on this terrain, and right now Kira is just masquerading one. They’ve had years to get used to legs, to the unforgiving gravity of air.

So it’s no use. 

“...water … es?”

The human is trying to speak to them again. Low picks up his foot cautiously. They look up, and wearily find the humans dark eyes. Low still does not show the usual signs of aggression.

The human picks up a container by the handle, which sloshes with a familiar sound.

Kira’s interest peaks. They turn their head, watching the human’s movements.

Then again, “Water,” Low says, that same curious tilt to their head. Not a statement then, an inquiry, one that they must try to sort out. Their survival may depend on it.

They try to sit up, and in doing so feel an uneasiness in the new alignment of their body. They plant their hands behind them and frown when their hair falls into their face.

Kira does not believe their hair has ever been fully dry before. It irritates them. They push it back out of their face and narrow their eyes at the curve to Low’s lips.

“Water,” they confirm, rubbing at their jaw with their palm. 

“Yes water.” Low puts the bucket of water within

_Yes_ means they get the bucket. _No_ means they do not get the bucket. Simple enough. Establishing an affirmative and a negative, they recognize.

“Yyy,” what a stupid sound. “Es.”

They pull the bucket toward them.

“Yes,” Low confirms. 

“Nuh,” Kira says, pushing it away. “No.”

“No,” Low agrees.

They pause and look at their new limbs, long and slim and useless. They curl their lip and point a finger, pressing the tip of it into the flesh of their thigh.

“Legs,” Low informs them.

“Legh,” Kira tries. “Legsss.”

“Yes,” Low approves.

They wrap their brain around away to relay what they need. They need to get back to the water, they need to have their body back, so that they can continue their justice.

This human seems to know little to nothing of their kind, but they are sure this must be a rarity. Humans have been hunting their kind for as long as they have been alive and long before, so such ignorance cannot possibly be commonplace. The islanders know, the researchers know, and in their experience there seem to be very few other types of humans.

But Low doesn’t appear to be either. Perhaps this particular human is especially unintelligent?

“No water, legs,” they explain. “Yes water, no legs.”

Low blinks, features shifting in understanding. 

A moment later, they are being lifted up and over the human’s shoulder. Although they do not like it one bit - they squirm the whole while, to be sure Low is aware of this - they hold onto a fragment of hope that they are going to be delivered back to the sea. They have already tried fighting, and would rather not wear themselves out

They see the surface of the just before they are released. 

The splash is welcoming, but they can tell this isn’t their home. It’s too clear, too clean, there are no plants or rocks or lesser fish to feed on. 

They are still captive, but at least here they can return to their true form and get their power back. From there, they can figure out an escape plan. They must.

For now, they close their eyes and breathe.

* * *

When L returns to the dining hall, his three companions are waiting for him. Mail is still in his pajamas, while both Quillish and Mihael are early risers who have been up for some time. The night had come and gone while the _merma_ slept, and considering L wasn’t likely to sleep anyway, he had allowed the others to retire while he kept watch.

“Uh, is he like,” Mihael asks, “ _drowning?_ Because it kinda looks like he’s drowning.”

“Probably not,” L answers, looking at the form elegantly floating toward the bottom of the tank, bubbles leaving his nose and mouth the whole way. “I don’t suppose he knows how to swim without a tail though. I’ll be interested to see the growing back process.”

“If it does,” Mail mutters, crossing his arms and moving to sit down. “What is the point of a mermaid, or _merma_ , whatever, being able to turn into a human anyway?”

Quillish strokes his mustache thoughtfully, “That would make _merma_ amphibians, would it not?”

“Maybe it’s some kind of self-defense mechanism,” Mihael offers, pacing. “Was it on purpose, or does it just happen? How long does it take?”

“There was perhaps forty-five minutes between the phone call and when L deposited him in the car,” Quillish answers.

“About that long, yes,” L agrees, still eyeing the now still form in the water. “I don’t think it was on purpose. He didn’t seem particularly happy to be in this state.”

L holds up his arm as evidence.

“Wait, did that thing _bite you?_ ” Mello declares, rushing up to him and grabbing him by the elbow to get a closer look. “What the hell?”

L brushes him off. “Just a little bit.”

“If he bit you,” Mail smirks, “does that mean that you’re going to turn into a fish now?”

“Doubtful,” L says, inspecting the teeth marks on his arm. 

But then, what does he know?

“We should get that patched up,” Quillish tells them, seems to start off toward wherever he has stashed the medical kit, only to falter a moment later. “Oh. I think that can wait.”

L follows his gaze back to the tank.

“Holy shit,” Mail and Mihael breathe in unison.

The transformation back looks like the buildup of a thousand tiny scales, starting along the creature’s feet and then spreading upward. It continues in a spiral, stacking along the length of him and then going further, until finally silvery threads sprout from the otherwise fully formed tail. They sew together into transparent ray finds, and then solidify in color and substance. 

The _merma_ jerks, and looks oddly shocked when he breathes in. 

He reaches up to gently touch the gills on his neck, then turns his eyes toward the glass front of the tank. His long tail stretches and flexes, but for the moment he stays suspended in place, glaring in their direction, and gently glowing red.

“Okay then,” Mail chokes out. “I can’t believe it’s...fucking _mermaids,_ but also, I would like to remind each of you that I _told you so._ ”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mihael clears his throat. “You... think this one is Kira?”

“No way to be certain,” L answers. “It’s possible. He did show recognition when I used the name, but that could mean anything. There is also the question of how he does it, and if it can be substantiated by evidence. We’re in new territory, so I can’t rule anything out, but considering the quantity of researchers over the years, the likelihood that the cause is a single _merma_ is low.”

The cold smile that had been given to him when this _merma_ mimed ‘ _No, you run’_ flashes in L’s memory. It’s a rather biased thought to have, but he has it just the same.

“Additionally,” Quillish tells them. “A team of researchers were sent out last evening and have not yet returned.”

“Is that so?” L murmurs, biting his thumbnail and smiling. “An inspiring alibi.”

They are only halfway through breakfast when L notices the _merma_ grow alert and agitated. They have finished the fish that Quillish offered by now, and

The range of emotion on the _merma’s_ face is fascinating to see and also eternally frustrating. There are questions that L needs to have answered, and while he would normally learn the language in preparation of an interrogation, there is an extra layer of complexity in this case. 

Perhaps the islanders will have something to offer at their meeting tomorrow, but he must be careful in how he approaches such a thing. If the islanders worship _merma_ , they may not take kindly to the idea that L has captured one, no matter what his intentions may be. 

L is just thinking about how to approach their next makeshift conversation when the doorbell rings.

“I must say, L, I’m impressed!” Higuchi grins broadly, and it’s like he has too many teeth. “I didn’t take you for a collector, what with all that whole ‘justice’ persona you have for the public.”

L’s mind reels, but he knows enough to know that looking ignorant at this juncture would set him back. He knows little about Higuchi, only what the Sovereign has said about him, which is very little. L knows this is Higuchi’s house, fitted with a large aquarium, and therefore he might have the answers to some of L’s questions when it comes to _merma-_ kind.

L chooses his words carefully. 

“Clearly you don’t know me very well.”

“Clearly not,” Higuchi agrees, “I certainly wouldn’t have taken you for an angler yourself - never seemed the type to get his hands dirty. Your recent conquest is admirable. An eel isn’t what I’d call a _rare_ catch, but it’s nothing to scoff at.”

L tilts his head, calculating. 

“You know about that?”

“Yes, of course. It’s my job to know about that,” Higuchi answers easily. “I know that I’ve lent you my home for the time being, but if you let me in, I think you’ll find we have much to discuss.”

L hesitates for only a split second.

“Of course, it is your house,” L responds, stepping aside to let him through. “And when you say a rare catch, what does that entail?”

“Thinking of selling already?” Higuchi says. “Don’t worry, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours, _ha._ But get me a drink first, good lord.”

“Right,” L says, as calmly as he can manage. Which is, fortunately, quite calm indeed, even under these circumstances. “Come on in then.”

Instead of walking passed him immediately, Higuchi lingers in the doorway and leans closer to L conspiratorially, glancing back over his shoulder.

“Ever seen a jellyfish before? Almost no one has. Terribly difficult to get them alive,” He shrugs and straightens up. “That’s why I’m the best at what I do.”

Then Higuchi steps through the door. Behind him, coming up the path, is a child in a wheelchair. The child is wearing oversized silk pajamas and has a long white mane obscuring most of their face. L spots one small, pale hand, twisting at an errant curl. The child is being pushed by a stoic man with wavy black hair, wearing sunglasses and a black suit. 

L swallows, but otherwise doesn’t do anything to stop them from entering.

“Sorry, Nate,” Higuchi calls back, “it looks like you’ll have to share your tank for a bit.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you again for all your responses! let me know your favorite moments, dialogue, lines, etc. <3
> 
> pretty happy with this chapter too. things are starting to happen~


	4. let's shake hands if you want, but soon both hands are gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, avoidfilledwithcelluloid, for proofreading this chapter.

The child that joins them in the tank does not seem particularly intimidated by Kira, despite their size disparity. It is soon clear why.

The human child drowns eagerly, then gasps awake a moment later. They transform, their pale legs gently peel apart into a series of ribbons. Their hips inflate until the skin is translucent, and the ribbons thicken and multiply into long, flowy tendrils.

This tank is already too small for just one being of their size. Adding a jellyfish is not their idea of a good time, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a choice. Humans do not appear to be particularly inspired to create a comfortable prison for their captives.

The jellyfish isn’t friendly exactly, but he does not shy away from the eel either. The child greets them with a tilt of their head and indicates that they will stay close to the top of the tank, so as not to infringe on too much space. They have had to share tanks before.

They don’t make much eye contact and fidget with their hair too much. 

Kira is not sure if this is usual for them or inspired by anxiety. It is not over the top to assume that both play a part. If living in a tank is stressing Light out after only a couple hours, they can only imagine what being raised in one is like.

They learn almost immediately that the child’s name is their kind’s term for ‘ _almost’,_ particularly in relation to almost catching prey, or almost being caught by a predator. The closest approximation - in English, the child explains, just one of many human languages - is the word ‘Near.’

They tell Near what their name is next. 

Jellyfish do not have electroreceptors, so there is a layer of dimension missing from the content of their words. Even so, the clicks and whistles they make with their teeth and throats are more suited to describing the electromagnetic channel than anything else. 

‘ _you must have strayed too close to the surface too often, for your parents to name you something like that,’_ Near comments with a little curl to their lips. ‘ _the closest word is probably ‘Light’.’_

Light.

They aren’t sure if they like it more than Kira or not.

‘ _you must have been landlocked for some time to be so fluent’._

_‘yes,’_ Near agrees. ‘ _I don’t remember much about what it was like in the sea.’_

Light imagines that is probably for the best, however melancholy the notion is. The sea has always been their home, and now it is in ruins. Perhaps never knowing it at all would have been better. An envious streak paints itself across the inside of Light’s chest.

‘ _is it difficult to learn?’_ Light decides to ask, rather than prying further.

_‘not at all. I can understand a few human languages, but speaking out loud is tedious. like their stupid legs, I want no part of it.’_

_‘they let you do what you want?’_ they had not imagined humans to be so reasonable. They are the sort to ravage homes and snatch children.

‘ _sometimes,’_ Near answers without inflection, long hair obscuring most of their face as it floats in an uncanny parallel to their tendrils. ‘ _Higuchi is a benevolent human.’_

Light doubts they are looking at the same man. The one who takes up too much space and talks too loudly and makes Low’s heartbeat speed up? Higuchi does not exude compassion.

‘ _he captured you, correct?’_

_‘oh. yes.’_ Near answers, detached. ‘ _but I get all the food and books and toys I want. I never have to do anything myself if I don’t want to. I’m very lucky.’_

Lucky in comparison to what happens to the rest of their kind, they suppose.

Light’s father would often rely on platitudes to teach lessons, and one is suddenly called to mind; the water is always clearer on the other side of the canal. No, Near’s life does not exactly seem preferable, no matter what luxuries they have to cope with the lack of freedom and personhood. 

The jealousy passes, which is something of a shame. It was certainly more comfortable than the heavy stone of sympathy that remains, heavy and cold in their gut.

A moment of quiet passes. 

They turn their gaze back toward the transparent wall, where the humans are standing in the room Light woke up in. They have been talking this entire time, and Light does not trust it one bit. They’ve thrown a child in with them, one of their victims, and there is no telling what the humans’ plan is, not unless they can understand their language. 

Light is physically at the humans’ mercy, but they still have their mind. If they can think of a way to get them all into the tank room, they might be able to lead the humans to the water the same way they have with the researchers.

_‘can you translate for me?’_

‘ _I suppose if there is nothing better to do_ , _’_ Near concedes.

* * *

“You know, the Sovereign things you’re completely oblivious to Mer-Trade. He’ll be pretty surprised to know you’re out here reeling them in yourself.”

They are all sitting around a marble slab of a table, drinking tea that Quillish had busied himself preparing. Mail and Mihael sit on either side of L while Quillish and Higuchi’s assistant stand off to the side. Mihael shifts beside him, slouching more heavily to disguise his discomfort, arms crossed.

“They fascinate me,” L decides to say. 

This is not a lie, but the way Higuchi snickers makes L wish that it was. He has never felt guilty for intellectual inquisitiveness before.

“Of course! You’re a detective! Scientists have been studying them for ages now, but there are still tons of things that can’t be explained yet,” Higuchi says amiably. “Have you gotten the chance to dissect one?”

“ _Gross_ ,” Mail hisses under his breath.

“Not yet,” L answers at the same time, the tone to his voice as clinical as he can manage.

“Ha, not much of a scientist, huh, kid?” Higuchi gives Mail’s shoulder a playful shove. “Same here, but I can appreciate men like L. Too studious for me, though.”

“Yeah,” Mail mutters. “That’s my problem with it.”

“I have to admit, this makes things easier for me. I thought I’d have to work around you being on the island, but knowing you _know_ means we can help each other out,” Higuchi informs him, planting an elbow on the table and leaning forward. “Stephen is Nate’s handler above all, but if I don’t need him here to feed him and fetch him toys, I could use the extra hands.”

“Of course, sir,” Stephen agrees, tilting his head forward in a slight, curt nod.

L starts, “I’m not sure -”

“Don’t worry about Nate, I’ve had him basically all his life. He’s very well-behaved,” Higuchi tells L, “Jellyfish are brainless, so all he really does is float there and look pretty. Think about it, even the smartest of them is just swimming in circles all day -”

The eel merma smashes his face on the glass hard enough to startle the humans. 

It backs up a moment later, appearing even more furious. Mihael laughs, but it is more startled and anxious than cruel. Fair enough, L thinks, running into glass is an undeniable form of slapstick comedy. Although he keeps his face fairly stoic, L’s first instinct is to be amused.

So is Higuchi’s. He laughs and waves a hand at the merma, cheerfully dismissive. 

L watches the merma grit his teeth and glare hotly, the sharp red of his glow intensifying and reflecting off the water and glass until the entire tank looks dyed in it.

“As I was saying, Nate won’t be a problem,” Higuchi finally says. “Your catch looks like he might be a little less docile. I can hook you up with a good behaviorist.”

“Excellent,” L drawls. 

Higuchi checks his watch, the face of which is graced with the Sovereign's bright red insignia.

“I’m sorry to cut our conversation short, but that was an associate. I’m needed for work.” He stands up and rebuttons his suit jacket, smoothing it out, tugging on his cuffs. “One of the researcher bodies washed ashore and had very distinct stings. Swollen and blistered, poor bastards.”

“I see,” L stands as well. “No insult taken.”

“I hope you don’t feel like I’ve overstepped onto your territory,” Higuchi continues. “The Sovereign wanted to cover all his bases. In case this whole ‘Kira’ thing turned out to not be the merfolk, even if I’ve been fairly sure all along.”

“Quite.”

“So glad to hear it. No hard feelings. When I report back to the Sovereign about ‘who caught Kira’, I’ll be sure to mention you assisted.”

L’s heartbeat is loud in his own ears.

“You’ve caught them?”

“That’s what the message was about, yes,” Higuchi tells him, tonguing his teeth as though idly trying to cleaning between them. “Kira didn’t wait until they were far enough out to sea this time, so we were able to find the bodies within just a few hours of being notified. She was still in the vicinity, so it wasn’t terribly difficult to corner her.”

L’s mind rushes into a thousand directions. 

“Catching it _carefully_ was of utmost importance,” Higuchi continues. “But, as I’ve said, I’m the best at what I do. There’s a reason the Sovereign funds my company.”

He lingers after casting the line, waiting for L’s curiosity to inspire his next question.

“Why was being careful important?” L humors humorlessly. 

“It’s a _lionfish_ ,” Highuchi repeats giddily, his smile a dagger on his face. “Apparently, it’s a real beauty. It can kill a man with its venom, but don’t worry, we have it properly confined.”

L finds his gaze flickering away from Higuchi and back toward the mermas in the tank. This is all happening incredibly fast. Their first encounter had only been two days previous, and now a second merma was in his care. Or, in his possession, as Higuchi would no-doubt call it.

“I’ll try to let you have a look before we ship it off to the Principality so that the Sovereign can decide what is to be done about her crimes.”

“I have questions,” L informs him, gnawing his thumbnail. “Firstly, what will happen to her?”

What L means is ‘what kind of criminal justice system exists regarding creatures that are undocumented?’.

“Well, that all depends on her quality,” Higuchi shrugs. “She’s rare, and attractive, so she’ll go for a killing, but flaws to the merchandise will set the price down again.”

It becomes obvious that what Higuchi heard was ‘how is the market?’. L is still burning with questions, but he resolves to find out more through the islanders tomorrow. 

“You don’t know much, do you? Well, once I’ve assessed her value, we can have a real sit down and discuss what you’re in the market for. I suggest selling that eel over there, actually, since you’re such a novice. I can help with that when you’re ready.”

“Noted,” L hears himself say.

Higuchi starts toward the archway leading into the entry hall, then stops abruptly.

“Oh, I nearly forgot!”

Higuchi turns back, head tilted at an odd angle. The red that the merma has cast upon the entire room catches on Higuchi’s eyes eerily and washes out his sallow skin.

“I’d love to have that reel you took back, if you don’t mind.”

His mind flashes back to the researcher by the estuary. They must have reported back to Higuchi about L’s interference, and about the merma he’d secured. It makes L wonder how much of this act Higuchi is actually buying. He doesn’t seem the insightful type, but L wouldn’t have guessed that a government secret of this scale could have been kept from him either.

“Of course,” L replies, calm and cordial. “It’s in the limo.”

“Perfect.” 

Higuchi offers him another harsh grin and a thumbs up, before slipping out the door. 

The relief in the room is palpable when they hear the sound of the front door shutting behind him. There is a suspended moment of quiet where L considers his options, running through the facts he has gathered and deciding on the best course of action.

The problem is that the most prominent issue is that of the endgame. What is his goal here, just to _solve_ the Kira case? That seemed such a small thing now. A few thousand researchers lost in a case of what could be considered a war between land and sea. 

War crimes are not L’s area of expertise.

Currently, there is no way for L to judge the amount of merma lost to such a high stakes battle. This wasn’t just about possible murders now, but self-preservation. The parameters of this case have been altered so dramatically that he must reassess his entire worldview. 

All the while, his interest as a scientist and solver of puzzles is fighting against his ethical teachings and how they apply to merma. About how he should decide to act in the days to come, considering he has also confined one against their will. It might be true that he’d felt hauling the creature to the mansion was a better alternative to tossing him back into the tarnished sea, but it is equally probable that his own tendency to sate his own curiosity above all else.

No matter his intentions, the truth remains. The merma is in the tank, and L is outside of it, a wall of glass defining his freedom in contrast to the lack of it on the other side.

Higuchi had commented that they were brainless things, the foundation of which was that they didn’t experience life in the same way humans did. L did not know that to be true, on the contrary -

Mihael speaks and snatches him out of his spiral.

“I didn’t think that there was any trace of venom reaction found on the other bodies.”

“No, there wasn’t,” Quillish confirms quietly.

Nowhere near all of the researchers had been found after disappearing. Most had been lost to the sea, so there is the chance that the handful of recovered bodies happened to not be affected by lionfish venom. Perhaps, as he’d initially thought, there were multiple revenge-seeking mermas, killing researchers in a variety of ways. 

There is no reason for L to linger on the idea that the first merma he’d ever come across was the one and only Kira, other than pure ego. Yet still the notion persists.

_knock knock knock_

Three crisp knocks sound, this time knuckles against the tank glass. L turns, and looking directly at the illuminated merma becomes entrancing. 

L feels his feet move almost without his permission. For a strange, suspended set of motions, there is nothing else in his mind except for the most vestigial words imaginable;

_shiny, pretty, closer, touch._

L’s nose and forehead thump against glass, and the spell is broken.

He blinks several times and turns his head as his mind clears. Craning his head over his shoulder, he sees that Mail, Mihael and Quillish have all followed him on his journey across the dining hall and towards the tank. They started a few feet farther way, and so L is the closest to the glass. They are each frowning and looking around as well, as if having just woken up.

When L turns back toward him, the merma smirks.

_What was that?_ L thinks, brow furrowing. _Was that you?_

Above the eel, the jellyfish floats upside down, and flaps his hands around. It takes L a moment to realize that the motions are not random, but actually quite deliberate and distinct.

“ **Light says you two need to talk** ,” Nate says, in clear Sign Language. 

The language is familiar to L, having learned in a couple years ago for another case, but seeing it upside down, and coming from a creature that he didn’t know existed the day before makes him feel a little bit insane. This might be aided the lack of sleep.

L fingerspells, to be sure he understands.

“ **L-i-g-h-t**?”

“ **Yes** ,” Nate confirms, gesturing to the eel merma below, who is still glowering in L’s direction, relentless. “ **That is their name, or, close enough. Let’s use this sign when we refer to them.** ”

Nate touches all of his fingertips together, then parts them. It is the sign for ‘ray of light’ or ‘sunlight’, but held closer to the chest than usual to distinguish itself. 

L repeats the gesture, and adds,

“ **I am L**.”

Nate seems to relay this to Light, showing him the finger sign for ‘L’. Without preamble, Light lifts stretches his thumb and index finger out while the rest stay curled. He points at L, then lifts it to his head in the universal symbol of (and correct sign for) _loser._

Mihael and Mail bubble over into laughter, and L can’t entirely blame them. The name sign sticks, which L supposes is fitting karmic retribution for his newfound ignorance.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy to finally give Light some dialogue and introduce Near, and there will be plenty more talking in the next chapter.
> 
> let me know what you liked best and what you're looking forward to!


	5. drag me out of the sea and then teach me to breathe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to avoidfilledwithcelluloid for editing this chapter~

‘ _you were not aware we existed until you saw me?’_

The human named L nods, which Light has begun to learn is the equivalent of ‘yes’. They aren't entirely convinced learning the humans' names was wise or necessary, but they have been learned nonetheless. 

_‘correct. it is not common knowledge. from what I have been able to gather, only very wealthy people who participate in human trafficking know the truth about the industry.’_

_‘trafficking?’_ Light prompts Near to explain. 

So far Light is learning a ton through them, and wishes the jellyfish could use the electric channel, so that Near could communicate with them silently as well. They are extremely well read, and know tons about the human world, which remains mostly a mystery to Light.

_‘a fancy term for slavery,’_ Near answers easily.

_‘but,’_ Light says, ‘ _we are not human.’_

_‘no, not when you’re in water,_ ” L agrees. ‘ _but when you are exposed to the sun, you turn human.’_

Near has told them that humans are well aware of this. Light has only heard terrible rumors about what happens to fish when they go above. They are actually worth more alive, it seems, and so they are allowed to turn human and assigned labor depending on their skill set. 

‘ _I am a trophy,’_ Near had explained. ‘ _jellyfish are brainless and heartless, you know. I just float here. they don’t expect me to do anything.’_

This horror has cast shadows across their face since their hatching, and Light finds themself as gripped by the morbidity of it in the same way that it had always lured them toward the surface.

_‘Yes. It has always been this way, we do not know why or how. It used to take more time, but the sun grows stronger in recent years,’_ Light explains carefully.

‘ _if you would like copies of merma-related studies and the books I had Stephen laminate, I'd be happy to lend them to you.'_

_‘they study us?'_

_'oh, yes. quite thoroughly.'_

The more Light speaks to Near, and even to L through them, the more they come to realize that the blasé tone and expression that they use for everything is just...the way Near is. They are much too informed about their situation for Light to think they are truly unaffected. They say 'quite thoroughly' and Light cannot help but understand him to mean 'in excess'. 

_‘That it does,’_ L continues. _‘It seems to me that the undocumented immigrants that have washed up on this island for years may have actually been merma, which means that the Sovereign's agents that arrest them or 'deport' them - meaning they dry them out and then take them into custody. From there they 'lose track' of their detainees, or rather, sell them in high end auctions.’_

_‘astute of you,’_ Near comments, as themself this time. ' _Higuchi has hosted many auctions in this very dining hall, in fact.'_

They translates for Light, who isn’t pleased with the implication that merma have been responsible for their own capture. They are also unerved to be in the same tank that so many others had passed through in between their freedom and their imprisonment.

Their kind die in droves and have for so long that the ancient ones still whisper warnings over the wavelength, a dull and distant deterrent pulsing from the deepest trenches.

_‘less of our water is breathable with every day that passes, thanks to humankind,’_ Light says coldly. ‘ _my home is rotting, there are fewer places to hide, they must be desperate to survive if they resorted to landseeking. humans left the sea and returned with researchers who use giant nets in the deep waters to seek us out.’_

L’s eyes are dark and unblinking, and Light gets the disconcerting feeling he’s being assessed. The small smile that L gives them is an odd contrast, almost pleasant.

_‘is that why you murder them?’_

Light narrows their eyes _. ‘I do not understand what that word means.’_

_‘No, I suppose not.’_

Light releases a small gush of water in annoyance, shaking their head and then willing themself to be more stoic. Their hair tickles their cheeks, slower to settle.

‘ _explain then.’_

_‘Alright,’_ L agrees, easier than expected. ‘ _it is when one takes a life.’_

_‘like for food?’_ Light’s nose curls slightly. ‘ _to murder is to eat?_

Mihael laughs at the same time Near says,

‘ _basically.’_

_‘but you already have a word for ‘eat’,’_

_‘it’s a variation.’_

_‘how annoying.’_

‘ _wait until we get to synonyms,’_ Near says, chittering softly in the closest approximation of amusement they have the entire day. Light doesn’t understand what is so amusing about that word, but they intend to learn quickly. They must study humans with the same fervor they have him, if he hopes to stay alive.

_‘murder is done from one human to another,’_ L argues. ‘ _as carnivores, you have no choice but to eat other fish, where as murder is a premeditated, malicious act. It’s a bit different than eating, though not mutually exclusive, I suppose, in the case of cannibals.’_

_‘what constitutes a cannibal?’_ Light demands. _‘how different do we have to be for it to be okay for you to ‘murder’ me for your pleasure?’_

Light is radiating a new crimson glow which flickers, and although Light doesn’t use his electroreceptors to short circuit L's mind, the human looks captivated and Light feels smug about this.

L does not appear to know how to answer to Light’s questions, so he deflects.

_‘what you did before,”_ L says, taking a step closer to the tank. ‘ _when we were all drawn to you -?’_

Light does not intend to disclose the effects that electromagnetism has on the human brain when activated by his electroreceptors at a high frequency, so he interrupts.

‘ _am I captive here?’_

L hesitates, looking at the ceiling as though he isn’t sure. ‘ _no. You were covered in oil and appeared ill, so I brought you here. it seems unwise for you to return to the sea, especially so close to the island, where the oil spill is the most concentrated.’_

There is a flicker of recognition and uneasiness in Light’s chest. Mentioning that the water was not breathable was a give away as to their condition, and it makes them resent the cleanliness of this cage. They are healthier now, even in such an ill-equipped tank, just from being out of the sea for less than a day. It adds insult to injury, to know that their home is no longer the safest place for them, that it never will be again.

_‘that being said, I will not keep you here against your will.’_

Light’s mouth pulls tight. 

_‘but you will keep Near here against his will?’_

L seems to consider this briefly. _`if he wishes to return to the sea, I will assist him.’_

_‘say that to them, not me,’_

‘ _technically I did; they’re our translator_.’

Light scowls at him.

_‘no, thanks,_ ’ Near answers. _‘seems dirty and boring out there.’_

_‘then you do intend to send him back with that angler?’_

L hesitates. _‘I hadn’t thought about it yet.’_

_‘why not?’_ Light goads. _‘Near is the angler’s property, by human standards.’_

_‘our laws do not allow for people to own people, but I admit that humankind is not known for following that rule. Those with the most power often use it to do whatever they want.’_

_‘do you have power?’_

_‘some.’_

_‘and how will you use it?’_

_‘for justice.’_

Light narrows his eyes. 

_‘justice?’_

_‘yes, it’s a concept regarding -’_

_‘I know what justice is,'_ Light interrupts, ' _but have doubts as to the capacity for human understanding of it.’_

L gives him another wry curl of a smile.

_‘that is very much in line with my perspective on merma, but it is newly formed and lacking the necessary evidentiary support.’_

* * *

“ **It’s almost like the varying nuances of our worldview don’t have enough bearing on our personhood to justify discrimination of any kind** _,_ ” Near signs.

L looks at the ceiling. “ **I suppose you’re right. We are here speaking like this so that we can share our understandings without judgement.** ”

“ **I have made no such promises by initiating this discussion** ,” Light disagrees.

“ **No**?” L asks.

“ **No** ,” Light agrees staunchly. “ **You’re people have allowed the suffering of my kind for far too long to escape judgement**."

**“In fairness, humans contribute to their own suffering on a massive scale as well,”** Near tells them, and there is a note of surprise on Light's features.

“The oil spill is one of many other catastrophes that Higuchi and his business partners have contributed to across the globe,” Quillish chimes in, nursing a new cup of tea in a chair nearby. Near translates this for Light as well, and the eel merma's eyes grow distant with thought. “The most recent one has polluted the surrounding bodies of water, making it dangerous for the islanders to fish or drink from most of their streams.”

“ **Great for the imported fish and water bottle companies** ,” Mihael muses, tapping his bottom lip with his index finger and pacing. He repeats himself out loud for Mail’s sake a second later.

“ **Imported fish,** ” Near repeats, “ **Like me, you mean**.”

Light points to themself and then at Near.

“ **Like us,** ” Near amends, showing them the correct sign for the phrase.

“ **No, I mean the kind that people - er, humans** **_eat,_ **” Mihael says.

L thinks the worst part is that neither Near nor Light even bristle. They look at each other, and then back at Mihael, wearing similar pitying expressions. Near’s face a slightly toned down version of Light’s, which is scrunched into open condescension. 

“ **You think humans draw the line at eating us?** ”

Mello balks, and Mail understands based on his reaction, looking ill beside him.

Mello raises his voice, “But you’re not fish, you’re _people!_ ” 

He appears to remember the language he’s been eavesdropping on, and his hands slice the repeated objection through the air a moment later. 

“ **What is the difference, and according to who?** _”_ Near shoots back. “ **Certainly not the people who make the rules. Whoever is at the top of the food chain decides who matters and who doesn’t based on trivial guidelines.** ”

“ **It’s more than that,** ” Mello insists, sneering. “ **You guys are talking, feeling,** **_thinking_ ** _-_ ”

“ **Ah, yes. Thinking, feeling, and talking, the hallmarks of sentience,”** Near sighs, a few air bubbles escaping from his nose **. “How do you know fish do not think or feel when you do not know their language? You regard their ignorance as proof that they are less of a being than you, while your own ignorance is excused entirely.** ”

Mihael’s gaze flickers away, then back, darkening to a glare.

“ **Fish or person, friend or food?** ” Near shrugs. “ **The difference is just the angle.”**

“ **So what, that just - makes it okay?** ”

“ **Nothing is okay** ,” Near answers. “ **They just are**.”

“ **You absolute - you** -”

“ **Idiot** ?” Near supplies blandly.   


“ - **_asshole_** _._ ”

Near blinks and cocks his head.

“Don’t be a dick,” Mail says, cutting his eyes at Mihael. “Sorry about him, I think he’s just tired entitled assholes like that guy -”

“I’m not translating you apologizing for me,” Mello sneers, then signs. “ **And I’m not irritated, I’m pissed! They’re stealing goddamn babies that are just in their homes or trying to get to safety.** ”

“ **Right, but he's not angry at** **_you_ ** _,_ ” Mail tries, stumbling through a few simple signs. 

Mihael slaps his hands to cut him off.

“ _Hey_ ,” Mail hisses, and L raises his eyebrows at the interaction, intrigued. The points Mihael makes are a mix of insightful and immature - at once, and not for the first time, L finds himself somewhat annoyed at the petulance and inspired by his vehemence.

“ **No, I’m** **_also_ ** **pissed at this spineless little prick for just accepting this shit.** ”

Near’s brow furrows.

“ **I am not like Light. I do not want to return to the ocean, and likely could not survive there. I won’t stop you from finding justice against Higuchi, but I will just be sold in an auction. It has little bearing on my quality of life.** ”

L is about to tell Near that he can make sure there is another option, but Mihael barrels on.

“ **What, you don’t care about the guy that raised you?** ” Mihael baits, mocking enough that L almost wants to intervene. “ **Was he not a compassionate owner? I’m** **_so_ ** **surprised.** ”

Near frowns, pausing for a long moment. Mail looks like he wants to apologize for Mihael again, but before he can, Near decides to speak. There is no inflection to his voice, and it makes it sound as though he is reciting something from memory.

“ **A rich man may be called charitable, but can only gain such standing through the suffering and belittlement of those he aids, which his own hoarding of wealth ensures.** ”

“ **Oh my god, just say he’s a piece of shit,** ” Mello snaps in sign. “ **No reason to go all** **_parable_ ** **on us. Being a** **_really, really nice slave master_ ** **is still is still owning motherfucking slaves**.”

Near stares with an unreadable expression.

“ **So what do you suggest I do?** ”

“ **Fight back** **_obviously_ ** **,** ” Mello signs emphatically, boxing his fists a few extra times for good measure. “ **Maybe you didn’t have a way to before, but that’s why we’re here. We’re goddamn justice.** ”

Near is still for several beats.

“Right, L?” Mihael says, turning on him, eyes bright and sharp.

L bites his thumb, looks around the room, assessing each occupant. His spirited apprentice and awkward assistant first, then to his appraising mentor, and finally back toward the merma. 

Near is expressionless, but their lack of response and flicker of their eyes in L’s direction seems to indicate hopefulness that makes a fist close around his guts. Below Near, Light has their arms crossed, hair drifting around their head and almost brushing their shoulders, expression etched with frustration, confusion, and distrust. Near must not have translated the entire exchange, as carried away as it seemed.

His job is technically to enforce the law, but he has always been allowed a degree of flexibility when it came to his own obedience of the law. Justice and law do not always coincide. As he’d said to Light, his attachment was not to law, but to justice, and what was happening to the merma species was decidedly unjust. Framing it as a war does not make him want to interfere less, if only because deciding to do nothing is so much more boring than the alternative.

The alternative being going after Higuchi for human trafficking, which meant revealing the existence of merma to the public to establish their humanity, which also meant essentially going after the Sovereign and all his cohorts.

_All the king’s horses and all the king’s men._

He can choose neutrality, thus siding with the Sovereign and becoming the man he had pretended to be with Higuchi. Or he can fight back against an organization of powerful men that have made war their business model. All is fair in love and war, largely because in reality nothing is fair at all. 

L had come here looking for a murderer, expecting to find a hurricane, and had come to question the nature of them both. It is a fascinating turn of events, it makes his mind think in ways it never has before. There are new pathways of thought forming that were previously unfathomable. Kira has presented him with a challenge even more compelling than the concept of Kira themselves, and L can no longer go back to an unenlightened world. 

“ **That’s right** ,” L answers, looking directly at Light as an indication that Near should relay the sentiment to them. “ **I am justice.** ”

Near looks at Light, rolls his eyes, and translates.

“ **No, I am. You may help, if you don't get in my way.** ”

L can’t help the grin creeping onto his face.

“ **Are you always so childish?** ”

“ **If I’m childish, then you’re an infant -”** Near stops short and cuts a look back at Mihael with a frown. “ **Are they flirting?** ”

Mihael sputters and L can’t decide to ride the wave of amusement or embarrassment. Mail snorts, Quillish coughs, and L feels a bit warm around the collar. Light is back to a puzzled lavender shade, brow furrowed.

“ **Of course they aren’t!** ” Mihael answers for him, which L figures is probably for the best. 

**“Okay, because I’ve never been able to tell,** ” Near signs. “ **But for future reference, I don’t feel comfortable acting as a messenger for that kind of thing.”**

Near looks in Light’s direction, appearing to take a moment to catch them up. Light’s puzzled purple glow turns soft pink, then deepens to a harsher red. Light bares his teeth, accompanied by a sound that is reminiscent of a hostile dolphin. 

L changes the subject to spare himself the wrath of a mystical, glowing eel that may or may not have lead thousands of sailors to their death.

“ **I’m glad we’re on the same page, and hope we can all work together to stop Higuchi,** ” L tells them, looking up at the ceiling. He goes on.

“ **Tomorrow Quillish and I will be speaking to their leader’s daughter. The line of questioning I planned has been altered, clearly, but it should illuminate me** ,” he pauses to glance at Light, “ **as to a few aspects of their legends surrounding Kira, merma as a whole, and the impact of Higuchi’s company on their land** . **Perhaps we can find out where he’s keeping Kira.** ”

Sure enough, when Near fingerspells out ‘Kira’, he notices another spark of recognition in Light’s eyes. There is significance there. 

“ _What?_ ” Mihael hisses, “I thought I was going to that too.”

“Yeah, me too,” Mail agrees, “I wanted to check out the villager’s marketplace.”

“ **You’ll both need to stay here with Light and Near** ,” L waves them off, still signing as he talks.

“ **No** ,” Light objects. “ **I will come too**.”

L blinks, “ **You can’t walk**.”

“ **How hard can it be**?” Light dismisses.

“ **You and I cannot communicate without Nate to translate** ,” L points out. “ **Unless he is willing to accompany us as well.** ”

“ **The village is not exactly wheelchair accessible** ,” Near tells them, “ **Also, I don’t want to go.** ”

“ **Fine. We will not get any sleep tonight,** ” Light looks determined, his glow slanting toward blue. “ **You will teach me as much of this language as possible to prepare, with Near’s assistance, and I will practise using my legs**.”

“ **And if you’re not ready?** ”

Light narrows his eyes, “ **I will be.”**

And well, it’s not as though L can properly communicate Light through a very socially awkward preteen jellyfish medium, so he’s certainly onboard. Even if it means another sleepless night, there are connections that simply cannot be made indirectly. The more they can understand one another one-on-one, the better. For investigatory purposes.

L nods, lowering to sit on the floor. 

“ **Let’s get started then.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this conversation wasn't supposed to be a whole chapter, so I had to up the total count to 7. I'm really pleased with it though. I think I got a lot of things across world-building and concept wise and had some fun dialogue in there all at once. so let me know how you like it~
> 
> next chapter: rendezvous in the village square


	6. beating the record for hearts skipping, in the dark

They have never had to learn a new language before, but they intend to be excellent at it. Light climbs out of the tank so that they can get used to being dry and legged, exceedingly careful not to touch any of Near’s long tendrils. 

The older man brings them a towel, and then the young human named Mail lends Light clothes. He also shows Light how to wear them, though it’s fairly intuitive. They are softer than the clothes with harsh lines that Higuchi wore, but more fitted than the baggy threads on L. They aren’t exactly comfortable after a lifetime not having to bother, but they are less grating than Light had expected.

The rest of the night, they run drills with Near and L on words they feel are the most relevant and useful. Luckily, this language has a simple sentence structure, and so after a brief grammatical run-through, most of the time is spent on subjects, verbs, and objects. 

Quillsh keeps them awake with a bitter, dark drink that Light likes the smell of more than the taste and even prepares fish for Light. They have never had anything cooked before, and it is delicious in an entirely new way. L eats a series of sweets and candies that Light tries but can’t stomach.

Walking practise happens in tandem with the language training. 

Light holds onto L’s arm while Near teaches them signs, walking toward the tank all the while. It doesn’t take overly long to get their bearings, but their knees still give out from the exertion every once in a while, and they trip over their own feet more than once.

When it comes to blending into the human look, Mihael insists Light wash their hair. Light isn’t sure if sitting in the bath will take their legs from them, so they lean a dining chair back on its hind legs against the bathroom sink counter. Afterward, Mihael trims their too-long fringe and ties the rest of their shoulder-length hair in a small bun at the nape of their neck.

The whole while, L is running through sign language vocabulary with them; by now there are hundreds of words to choose from.

Over breakfast they add more to the repertoire. At this point, L begins to teach them about the history of humans, perhaps hoping that Light will share facts about their kind in turn. 

Over the course of mid-morning, L also catches him up on why he had come to the island to begin with. They are caught up on the details of the Kira case,  _ their  _ case, and enthralled to learn that over the last several months that modern society had been talking about them. The humans even went so far as to inscribe a great number of words onto recording devices, and not just paper either.

The name Kira had caught on across the globe, thanks to interviews with a few the islanders attempting to draw attention to the oil spill. The plight of the villagers was not making the news, which is related with wires full of electricity, both of which still sound fake to Light. They use a system to talk to one another around the world and share stories.

It reminds Light vaguely of the electric channel, though infinitely more crude.

“ **Humans** **_want_ ** **to be in their net?** ” Light scoffs. 

“ **It is a different kind of net,** ” L explains.  **“It connects us all, for better or for worse.”**

“ **Captive together,** ” Light says, dubious, “ **Sounds like net.** ”

When they were small, Light had been curious by the concept of humanity, of what sunshine felt like on their skin, of the written word, of solid ground. Often they had studied humans from afar, afflicted with the boredom of the same old dark caves and the increasing distress over the wavelength as his kind were captured or suffocated in the murk. The prospect of breaking the surface had been daunting and yet consumed more waking hours than Light would like to admit.

But that had been before the reef rotted around them, and their sibling had been snatched up by a passing net while fleeing polluted waters.

Light does not tell L any of that. 

Their true motive isn’t just revenge, at least not anymore. L tells them that lionfish is in custody, and Light has no way of knowing what they may have observed about Kira. Light does not think they have killed before, at least not so close to the island. It makes Light suspicious that perhaps they know of Kira, and if there is any chance that the lionfish knows Light is responsible for the researcher’s death, they might tell the humans in exchange for leniency. 

Light does not know what the consequence of that could be. L has mentioned a criminal procedure in which actions that are deemed crimes are answered, which often entails some kind of punishment. This, Light is sure, is only promised to humans. To the humans with power, they are nothing but an animal - a trophy pet at best and livestock at worst.

However terrifying the prospect of being owned and trapped in a tank for the rest of their life, death is even worse, as there would be no chance of escape. 

Perhaps they can pick L’s brain, now that they can speak to one another. Their grasp on sign language isn’t where they would like it to be, but they don’t have enough time to acquire all of the vocabulary. Light is a fast learner, and the humans are not entirely incompetent teachers.

The contraption that they get into when it is finally time to leave is called a ‘car’. It functions in much the way a whale does when their kind hold onto a fin to hitch a ride, except this is a ‘machine’ and there is a human in charge of it. Light thinks it is a rather impressively resourceful thing for humans to do. Lacking a land whale to give them lifts, they invented their own.

Even if Light had the words to say this to L, they would not.

“ **How long until meeting?** ” Light asks when the car pulls up to the village square. Out the window, they see signs and shops and people on foot.

“ **We have a couple hours** ,” L answers.

“ **Early** ,” Light frowns. “ **Why?** ”

“ **Food** ,” L says simply, then climbs out of the limo. Once out, he ducks back through the door and meets Light’s eyes, hand outstretched.

Light takes it. While Light understands walking now, that cannot make up for an innate lack of strength and balance. Light can manage several steps on their own, but inevitably they trip over their own feet or get weary and buckle at the knee. 

It does not help that they feel weak from using their human lungs all night. While their gills reformed and unclogged while breathing in the clean tank water, that was the least of Light’s problems. Using their human lungs was a struggle as well, though still easier than breathing under water in the oil-drenched sea. 

Though they avoid falling, they need to pause to catch a breath on the walk. While their gills went away and reformed anew, their human lungs are a permanent feature. They don’t work as well as they used to either, and paired with new, long limbs to get used to, Light fears they might need to take more than one break during their trek.

L sits on the edge of something called a fountain. Light follows suit, catching their breath while L finger spells the name of the item and explains its use. There is a statue of a merma with long hair and breasts in the center of the fountain, spitting a steady stream of water up into the air.

Light can’t help but feel a little disgusted by it. To think this kind of thing is the islander’s territory as well, when Light had previously considered them allies.

“ **Humans make us stone?”** they demand, narrowing their eyes at L. “ **How?** ”

“ **No, it’s fake,** ” L replies. “ **It’s art.** ”

Light tilts their head and looks at it again. Their kind make things for aesthetic and creative expression reasons too, and they have their own term for it. It is less common than it seems to be for humans, though they think that has more to do with the lack of light. 

“ **I’ve never seen the point of art** ,” Light tells him. 

“ **Is that common among your kind?** ”

“ **Yes,** ” Light confirms, still gazing thoughtfully at the fountain pice. “ **My sibling always did though. They would have liked this.** ”

They do not mean to say this, and L is quiet for long enough to make them hope they did not. Even when learning the sign for ‘sibling’, and its oddly reproductive-specific variations, they had not chosen to mention they had one of their own.

L starts, “ **Where -** ”

Light stands up on his own and manages not to sway.

“ **Ready?** ”

Nodding, L stands and takes Light’s arm. Annoying as it is to need a crutch, it is not an uncomfortable way to walk, and gives them more stability. It’s certainly better than tripping, or needing to stop to catch their breath.

They make their way, arm in arm, to an islander owned and operated restaurant. L explains that it’s name translates to ‘house of merma’, which Light is quietly pleased by. 

There are a few locals seated by a large window with a beach beyond it. Their chattering dims to a whisper when they enter. 

The hostess stares at Light for longer than seems appropriate. Eye contact is not exactly something merma hold dear to begin with, and even L’s unblinking gaze is not quite like hers. Her pupils shrink and after she seats them, she trots off to the kitchen to bring them L’s requested tea.

When they are left at a table in the back with menus, Light gives L a questioning look.

L looks up at the ceiling. “ **What** ?” 

“ **You didn’t see how she looked at me?** ” Light huffs. “ **Your purpose is to detect. You do detect this, you do not detect merma. Are you bad at your job?** ”

“ **I’m the best detective in the world** ,” L grumbles.

_ Not exactly inspiring _ , Light chooses not to say.

“ **Do humans often fail?** ” Light asks, rather enjoying the rare pulse of annoyance on L’s face. “ **It is different for us. We fail, we die.** ”

L inclines his head.

“ **Yes, we do** ,” L concedes. “ **Not me, though. I always win** .”

“ **You think we will stop Higuchi then** ,” Light says, narrowing their eyes to assess L’s response. The trust they have is tentative and conditional, but they do not have much choice.

“ **Without a doubt,** ” L confirms.

“ **Good** ,” Light lets a moment pass, then, “ **Do you think you will catch Kira?** ”

L pauses, and puts his thumb against his front teeth. 

“ **I can’t say.** ”

“ **But you always win,** ” Light points out.

L is quiet for another moment, scratching his chin in a way that seems out of place on his features, exaggerated. Light doesn’t quite understand the context of the expression. 

“ **I don’t think I know what winning looks like,** ” L finally tells them. “ **in this case.** ”

L looks out the window, out to the beach. The metallic rainbow coats the surface and meets the coastline in several places, the tide licking at the ankles of a few playing children.

“ **I also always win** ,” Light assures him.

“ **I’m glad that we are on the same side then.** ”

There aren’t too many conversations they can have, so they watch the waves come in after they order and sip their tea. Light doesn’t love this kind, but L assures them that there are several others that they can try. 

It doesn’t take long for their food to come out. There are several thin slices of colorful fish decorating the plate, while L has opted for something kind of dessert that Light can’t stand.

The fish tastes excellent, but it turns Light’s stomach. On their way out of the restaurant, Light veers off into the alley beside it to empty their stomach into a bin. 

-

“The fish here isn’t safe to eat,” someone says at the mouth of the alley.

Two women stand there, both dark haired and quite pretty. One of them is in jeans and a black tank top, long hair pulled up into a ponytail with a pen sticking out where it’s tied. 

The other has short, neat hair and is wearing a simple white blouse paired with a red and purple flared skirt, the kind that they’ve seen all over the marketplace on the way here. Island clothing, with a sophisticated twist. L recognises her immediately from his recent studies of the island.

“Kiyomi Takada,” L greets, blinking. It takes him another moment to recognize the other.

“I’m a reporter,” the woman says, “My name is -”

“Naomi Misora,” L supplies.

“Yes,” She raises her eyebrows. “I didn’t think you’d remember. Anyway, I’ve been covering the loss of researchers for the last few years. It’s about time you showed up.”

Beside him, Light lifts their head and wipes their mouth on a sleeve.

Kiyomi’s face flashes with recognition. 

“You’re really here.”

Light doesn’t seem to know her in return. His brow furrows, puzzled.

L thinks he knows then, for sure, though he cannot entire fathom why the certainty comes to him so freely. It is certainly unusual for Kiyomi to know Light’s face, but it doesn’t exactly prove anything.

Anyway, there are more pressing mysteries to solve. 

“ **What is she saying?** ” Light demands, after nudging L with their elbow.

“ **The fish isn’t safe to eat.** ”

Light narrows their eyes. 

“ **You poisoned me?** ”

“ **Not on purpose,** ” L says, shuffling his feet. He chuckles then, and says, “Porpoise.”

“What?” Kiyomi snaps.

“Nothing important,” L dismisses, “What were you saying about the fish?”

“The fish from the island is as polluted as the waters,” Misora answers, eyeing Light, “Particularly if you already have a sensitivity to it.”

L looks at Light. Their skin looks sallow in the twilight lighting, even worse than when they ran out of breath on the walk here. Even if their gills had recovered somewhat, and they were no longer covered in oil, it made sense that there were lasting effects.

He quickly translates the explanation.

“ **Humans on the island eat the fish,** ” Light points out. L says this out loud.

“They’re used to it,” Kiyomi explains.

  
“It is still making them sick, just more slowly,” Naomi says, “Besides, only the poor islanders eat fish from here. The rest get it imported.”

Kiyomi’s eyes flicker to the side briefly.

“Yotsuba group set up the factory and the resort here six years ago and everything has gotten worse since then,” Kiyomi tells them. L summarizes in sign for Light as much as possible, but they haven’t gone over the concept of ‘factories’ or ‘resorts’.

Naomi scowls and crosses her arms.

“The Sovereign seems convinced that the immigrants are the cause of the island’s difficulties. That they’re trying to get to the mainland from their home in order to steal our resources.”

Kiyomi’s lip curls. “Fake news.”

“Many would say that regarding the entire concept of merma,” L points out.

Naomi leans in, a disapproving expression on her face. 

“Are you trying to bait her?”

“No, it’s fine,” Kiyomi says, stone faced. “He’s right about that. Yotsuba Group needs my people to make the island function, but discrediting us as delusional salt-water drinkers is in their best interest, so that no one actually takes us seriously.”

A pang of discomfort burrows itself between L’s ribs. 

“Anyone that makes too much of a fuss gets arrested,” Naomi says, “Or just disappears without a trace one day.”

“I see,” L mutters. “How did you know we were here? This wasn’t our meeting place, or time.”

Kiyomi tilts her head toward the wall of the alley.

They look at the window of the restaurant overlooking the alley, where the young hostess is spying on them. Her eyes go wide and she ducks out of view.

“I see,” L says. “So you know -”

“More than you do,” Kiyomi interrupts, scoffing. 

L rolls his eyes. “Why are you telling me all this?”

Naomi and Kiyomi glance at each other. 

“We saw you save them,” Kiyomi says, gesturing to Light. 

L turns his eyes back on Light, and notes how frustrated they are to be left out of the discussion. Their eyes flicker between L and the two women, mind trying to put together the scraps that L is translating for them. L is having a hard time figuring out how to put it together with only what Light knows of their shared language.

Going into the negative impact that the Yotsuba group had on the island wasn’t exactly in the vocabulary, and L doubted it would be much of a surprise to Light anyway.

“ **The islanders want to help us. They saw us on the beach. They know of you.** ”

Light’s lips draw into a frown. “ **Of me? How?** ”

L turns the question on the other two.

“The islanders have been thwarting The Angler and his researchers for years,” Naomi says, “With the help of a  _ merma  _ who has been visiting us on the island for years. Misa, the lionfish  _ merma _ that the Angler caught. She’s sort of a local celebrity.”

“Kira,” L supplies, to watch their reactions.

“Misa,” Kiyomi corrects, her eyes cold.

Right, well, if anyone were to ask, he’d count that as an interrogation.

“And what does Misa have to do with how you know Light’s face?”

“Light?” Kiyomi says, eyes widening. 

“Picked it themself,” L tells her, putting his hand to his mouth like a whisper. “Sort of holier-than-thou, don’t you think?”

“ **Why are you hiding your mouth?”** Light asks impatiently, looking suspicious. 

“Misa drew their face for us,” Kiyomi says, looking in Light’s direction. Now that L thinks about it, he’s not sure her gaze has left him this whole time.

“Why did you come find us here?” L continues.

“Because we didn’t think we’d make the meeting later. I’m glad you seem to be on our side now, L, but we haven’t just been here accepting our defeat all this time. We’ve been saving as many washed up  _ merma _ as we can, and sabotaging as many researcher ships as possible,” Naomi says.

“As we speak, a rescue mission is taking place,” Kiyomi explains, “Any minute we’ll know if it worked. Going after Higuchi is a worthy goal, but my people don’t exactly have the resources.”

“You still haven’t answered my question,” L sighs.

“There’s a beach not too far from here where the water is clearer. We’re going to release Misa back into the sea there, if everything goes to plan,” Kiyomi says, looking at Light,. “We thought you might want to go too.”

L reluctantly translates.

“ **They’re saving Misa, and setting her free. They want to know if we want to come.** ”

Light frowns and hesitates.

In that instant a distant  _ bang  _ sounds, and a green signal fires up into the sky to the north.

“That’s the signal,” Naomi says, already backing out of the alley, “Are you coming?”

Kiyomi and Naomi start running before they can get an answer. If nothing else, L figures that Light deserves the choice, no matter how sick they may be. 

Just as he’s about to take Light’s hand and pull them along, Light saves him from making the decision by nodding and putting his first foot forward. They follow Naomi’s ponytail as they head down the alley, passed a fence, and through a thick brush. At first, Light’s legs hold up rather well, but when the ground grows uneven and obstacle-laden, he nearly tumbles several times.

L hoists Light onto his back and carries Light the rest of the way down the path, until the grass turns to stone and sand and they see a crowd of people heading toward the shore. The rest of the gathering is following one man with a wheelbarrow.

It becomes more difficult for L to walk as the sand grows deeper and looser, and L is getting tired, slower. Kiyomi gets to them first, and the crowd of islanders listening to her and then turning in L’s direction. By the time they get close enough to see that there’s a small blond woman in the wheelbarrow, L is breathing heavily and his legs and arms are aching.

He puts Light down when they approach and lets Light hold onto his shoulder for support. The man pushing the wheelbarrow falls to his knees when he sees Light. The islanders murmur together.

The small blond in the wheelbarrow reaches a tremulous hand out toward Light.

L feels like by coming to this island he may have interrupted something much bigger than himself. Like  _ merma _ , he had never believed in such a thing before.

“I’m so glad I finally got to meet you,” Misa says in rather good English, teary-eyed. Light extends their hand and Misa clings to it.

Light looks at Misa with a cautious curiosity, then back at L, who translates Misa’s words. Light turns back to 

“I didn’t tell them anything,” she whispers, kissing Light’s knuckles. “I would never.”

L isn’t sure he needs to translate that part, or if it is even entirely appropriate for him to do so. The decision is made for him, thanks to a sudden and unfortunate interruption.

A sharp pain shoots through L’s shoulder and he cranes his head to look at it. A dart just like the one he’d found in Light on the other shore is sticking out of him. 

An islander sees a researcher in the distance a moment later and yells as much, pointing wildly. 

The ensuing commotion starts as the frantic bustle of a dozen people trying to make it back to the trees. The man who had pushed Misa in the wheelbarrow scrambles to his feet and resumes the task, sprinting with her toward the incoming waves. 

His knees give out and he turns his head to find Light, and sees that two islanders have scooped him up, bringing him along. Someone in the distance barks an order.

L sees Misa make it to the water just before his vision fails him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took a little longer than anticipated, sorry! I do like how it turned out though, we got to have some time with the badass girls of Death Note and some one-on-one time with L and Light before advancing the plot forward.
> 
> let me know what you think~


	7. cut me down like a tree, like the lumber and weeds

“Get up.”

L wakes up to a predicament he has never faced before. There’s the heel of a shoe grinding into his cheekbone. It twists like it’s snuffing out a cigarette butt, then cycles over to putting a near crushing weight on his already pounding skull.

He tries to pull away, with less-than-optimal results.

“There you go, up! I want to talk to you before this is all through, L.”

The sedative has not fully worn off, so dragging himself into consciousness is difficult. Less so when the alternative is having his face crunched into the ground.

“M’wake,” L grumbles, and is relieved when the shoe is lifted off.

His wrists and ankles are secured behind his back with what feels like zip ties. He aches all over, and figures that however he was delivered from the beach to this room, it had not been gently.

When his vision comes into focus, he takes in where he is with as much detail as possible. L can feel how slowly his cognitive ability is trudging through the drug-induced muck. It feels how he imagines swimming through oil might, thoughts slipping through cracks at every moment.

“C’mon,” Higuchi cajoles. “We don’t have much time until my crew gets here.”

L balks but forces himself into a sitting position. They’re in the upper landing area above the tank in Higuchi’s mansion. There are about four feet of floor leading from the door that leads back to the house and a dead end, practically a hallway. There is no railing, meaning that one well placed kick from Higuchi could send him into the water easily, into the tank with Near.

“Careful now,” Higuchi warms with a too-wide smile. “Nate wouldn’t _mean_ to hurt anyone, of course, but there’s no denying our nature, is there?”

L ignores him, assessing. Between L and the door is Higuchi and Light, who remains unconscious. The _merma_ is still human, and lying closer to the edge of the landing than L feels comfortable with, but he doesn’t appear to be bound. Higuchi probably assumes he is not a physical threat.

“I thought the islanders got them,” L croaks, fishing carefully.

“You’d have liked that, wouldn’t you?” Higuchi sneers. 

So he does know then, that L isn’t working on the Sovereign's orders anymore. No, wait, proceed carefully; he can’t know anything for sure. L might be able to stoke a doubt, buy some time.

“Of course not,” L groans, managing to sit himself up. “You preserved my catch, I’m in your -”

“Oh, shut up,” Higuchi snaps. “You were _with_ the islanders who stole my lionfish!”

There’s almost a petulance to the tone that he finishes with, the kind a child might use while insisting ‘ _mine, mine, mine!’._

“I was infiltrating the islander’s rebellion,” L tells him, cautious, “The eel merma I found thinks I’m helping, but in truth I’m attempting to dismantle their resistance from the inside -”

He’s abruptly grabbed by the hair and thrown a few feet away. 

L rolls, and has to stop himself from falling into the water by digging a knee into the floor. Pain shoots down his leg and he struggles to lift his head.

“I think you’re a liar,” Higuchi snarls and stalks toward him. “And you’re in my way.”

The act doesn’t seem to be working this time, but L considers trying to twist it back into his favor. There’s still a chance that he can outsmart Higuchi, or that Light will wake up and be able to help. Barring those scenarios, he will have to consider extreme self-defense measures - namely, pushing Higuchi into the dangerous waters before he can meet a similar, or worse, fate.

“I’ll admit you had me going,” Higuchi says, “The Board always seemed to think you were too sanctimonious to know the truth, but I had always suspected you were the type of man who enjoyed self-indulgences. You eat only sweets, you have a building built for your convenience, you don’t do anything you don’t want to do. Don’t get me wrong, I admire it, but even your alliance with the islander’s rebellion reeks of your privilege.”

_His_ privilege? Coming from a man rich enough to buy an entire country? Who owns a child for the _aesthetic_ and ruins millions of lives from the safety of his yacht? 

L scoffs before he can stop himself, indignation pulling at his tongue.

“So believing in basic human rights is _self-righteous decadence?_ ”

Shit. There goes that plan. He considers he may have a concussion. Not ideal.

“Ha!” Higuchi laughs so sharply it’s almost reminiscent certain _merma_ clicks L has heard passed between Light and Near. “Basic human rights? I seem to recall a certain detective keeping a suspect captive for interrogation against lawful order.”

L frowns. “He was guilty.”

“Yes, yes,” Higuchi agrees, crossing his arms. “He confessed and lead you to the physical proof after being held in government-sanctioned captivity with only circumstantial evidence. Very civilized and ...humane.”

Higuchi grins like there’s something behind his teeth. L’s head throbbing behind his eyes.

“I knew it was him, and I was proven right.”

“I know. Your methods are effective, and that’s all that matters.” Higuchi drawls. “You earned my respect that day. Before that, I agreed with The Board. The Sovereign said you were too ‘innocent’ to know, but we all knew what that meant. You’d just try to ruin it for all of us.”

L feels dizzy. “The Sovereign knows?”

Higuchi knees next to him and makes an exaggerated expression of sympathy.

“The thing about illegal immigrants, about poor people in general, is that no one who could make a difference actually believes them.” 

Higuchi has the audacity to snicker. 

“I mean, did you?”

“Someone,” L starts, but his mouth is terribly dry. “Someone does. The islanders -”

“Arrested for political dissonance,” Higuchi cuts him off. “Oh, sorry, that’s not a crime, is it? Shoot. What to do...what to do… oh! I know, it turns out that they wrecked my facility when they broke my lionfish out, and since the research lab is funded by the Sovereign, that means destruction of government property. They also resisted arrest and maybe...blocked traffic, or something.”

“We have proof we can release to the public,” L baits, though he doesn’t actually know if that’s true. There hadn’t been enough time to discuss it with Naomi.

Higuchi shrugs. “Pictures and videos can be doctored. The public believes what they want to, and that reporter we caught at the beach is a known quack who’s been talking of _myths_ for years.”

He leans in and stage whispers. 

“Might even need to crack down on investigative journalism, make some new laws to protect ourselves from crazy, attention-seeking alarmists like her, don’t you think?”

L pukes on Higuchi’s fancy shoes, glaring all the while.

“Ew,” Higuchi grimaces. 

“You,” L heaves, but just stale air this time. “You’re disgusting.”

“Maybe,” Higuchi concedes, and over his shoulder, L detects movement. “But no more than anyone else. I didn’t make the rules, I’m just playing by them.”

L lets his gaze flicker past Higuchi when the man glances at his watch. Light is awake and quietly making their way over to where Higuchi is knelt beside L. They creep along close to the wall, where a vast display of silver trophies are displayed, each a different kind of merma, each frozen in an elegant arch or twirl. It reminds L of the statue in the village, but the truth behind these sculptures is much more sinister.

“You’re making excuses for participating in this,” L prompts, intending to stall.

“It’s a meat-market, and every one of us has been a part of it our entire lives. You can either be the provider, the consumer, or the meat.”

Higuchi seems to have too many teeth, and L can’t tell if he’s smiling or scowling. It’s such an unnatural expression that L thinks it must have been altered by his head injury.

“You’re not a good person for not knowing, especially with your level of education. If anything, that just means your willful ignorance is more finely tuned than most.” Higuchi pinches his cheek and tugs a few times, making L’s head spin. “That’s something to be proud of, I guess.”

He lets go, pats L’s cheek, and sighs.

“You’ll be remembered fondly. I mean, not by me, but someone, I assume.”

Light is still creeping closer, but they aren’t the most physically adept ally at the moment. They’re moving slowly and carefully, one misstep sure to ruin the little chance they have left.

“What about my apprentices?” He pushes on, “They don’t have anything to do with this.”

“Oh, but they do,” Higuchi disagrees. “That said, they’re both young and attractive enough that I might just snip their vocal chords and sell them.”

He waves a hand dismissively, and L feels bile rise in his throat.

“That’s the beauty of this whole arrangement, you see, there’s no way to tell the difference between a human and _merma_ once they’ve turned. It makes it pretty easy to get rid of rebels and...well, anyone who’s more trouble than they’re worth. You could drown them and see if they come back with fins, but that’s such a waste of inventory if you’re wrong.”

Higuchi shrugs and stands back up.

“Don’t take it too personally. Business is business, and you’re hurting the bottom line. Do you think the Sovereign cares where the bodies come from? How they think, or feel? No one cares about anyone. I thought you were smart enough to figure that out.”

“Cleverness and cruelty should not be equated,” L argues, voice raw and low.

“What’s the difference? Unlike you, _I’m_ going to survive. I’m the best goddamn angler there’s ever been, I’m _indispensable_ to the Sovereign,” he spits, “What do _you_ do?”

“Justice,” L says, firmly. 

He means to speak firmly, anyway. In truth, he feels faint.

“Ha ha ha! Do you think the Sovereign cares about _justice?_ He lets rich kids like you play around with it as long as it doesn’t actually make a difference. You get some notoriety, and the masses think that there’s someone on their side.”

Higuchi shakes his head. “The moment he finds out that you’re endangering a centuries old industry and cutting into profits? You’re gone. Where do you think the Sovereign's consorts come from? The inmates who fill the prisons? The poor laborers who build his palaces, who clean the houses and cook the meals for his advisors?”

He bends over and snarls. “Every bit of this place was built on the bodies of _merma_ , and no one cares if you just call them criminals.”

Higuchi takes a breath and tugs the lapels of his suit straight.

“ _Justice_ ,” he gestures, putting his thumb to his index and middle fingers, voice mocking. “Can you rub justice together between your fingers, L? No? That’s because it’s not real.”

A phone chimes, and Higuchi pulls his cell from his pocket.

“What is real is this. Soon, my yacht will arrive in the harbor, and I’ll be taking Nate and his new eel friend into the tanks there. I’ve already been talking to a collector who’s interested in adding a shiny new eel to his collection. This is him now. Terribly rude, I know, but I’ve got to take this.”

“Light is mine,” L says, catching a glimpse of Light directly behind Higuchi’s back. He has one of the trophies in hair, poised high. “I caught them.”

“Yes, well, I caught them the second time, didn’t I?” Higuchi laughs. “Besides, he isn’t legally your property, is he? You don’t believe in that sort of thing, righteous as you are. Not sure what use righteousness is when you’re dead, but that’s for the intellectuals like you to sip your tea and debate about, while the real winners are out in the real world, _winning_.”

Just as he starts to lift the phone up to his ear, Light brings the trophy down on his head. 

The impact makes them drop it and it lands on the ground heavily as the phone is knocked out of Higuchi's hands and into the water with a splash.

Higuchi stumbles but doesn't go down, so Light grabs Higuchi around the shoulders, There’s a struggle, Higuchi trying to pry Light off of him, spinning and reaching back to strike him into submission. 

A sharp sound of pain echoes through the room and L feels a jolt of panic until he realizes Higuchi released it, in response to Light chomping down on the offending hand.

L almost laughs at the sight, but before he can, Higuchi successfully shakes Light off of him. Light stumbles back a step or two but manages to keep their footing, but is still catching their balance while Higuchi turns toward him. L acts quickly, striking his bound feet out with all the strength he can muster, sending Higuchi toppling over the edge.

It might have been a perfect climactic moment, if Higuchi hadn’t flailed out a hand at the last second and caught Light’s arm, sending them both into the water.

* * *

They wake up in the process of drowning, but it’s only a blip of consciousness.

When they wake up again several seconds later, their tail and fins have returned. Twisting around in a panicked thrashing movement, Light tries to catch their bearings.

‘ _don’t move!’_

The familiar whistle makes Light freeze, noting that they are an arm’s length away from a wispy white jellyfish’s tentacle. They breathe in deeply through their gills and carefully ease themselves away from the long, ruffled ribbons. 

A flurry of movement a few feet below Light catches their attention once safety is achieved. 

They spot Higuchi, weighed down by the soaked layers of clothes, fighting to find a way back to the surface. His face is heavily creased, the lines of his neck bulging. Light bats him away with his tail when he comes close enough, knocking him back and stealing his progress.

The tangle of Near’s tendrils make an intimidating obstacle, and his bubbles are running out.

‘ _he’s dying,’_ Near notes.

‘ _yes,_ ’ Light agrees, watching. ‘ _sort of boring actually.’_

This isn’t strictly true. 

Most of the time, there is a thrill that comes with ending a life, even in Kira’s indirect method. There hadn’t always been - first time there was pure anxiety at the thought of having killed a human, even in the defense of other _merma._ Killing for food is natural, but surplus killing is a taboo among fish and _merma_ alike, reserved for fools and madmen.

The first time had been an accident, committed in an attempt to save a group of _merma_ ensnared in a net. Light had screamed along the electromagnetic wavelength, sure that their sibling was among the captured. The human had fallen in and drowned while their kind swam free.

Sayu had not been among them.

Light hadn’t known, at first, that hitting a specific note on the electric channel would practically shut down a human’s brain. Nor did they know that in such a mindless state their luminance would attract humans like shrimp to a predator’s beacon. 

If any of their kind were aware, it was a well-kept secret, or may have been lost over generations of avoiding humans at all costs. 

From there, it had been easy enough to stalk ships and wait in the night for humans to come close to the edge. From there, it was a simple song to sing, almost a passive activity. Light wonders sometimes whether or not they would have been able to kill humans, even for justice, if were not so easy. It’s a frivolous notion, one they are blessed not to have to seriously consider.

‘ _I thought this would be harder,_ ’ Near says, seeming to agree.

Higuchi claws at his own chest and shoots an angry, panicked look in Near’s direction as his head injury bleeds into the water.

Near twitches a hand forward, but they do not move any further.

Higuchi’s eyes widen, and he swipes desperately at the jellyfish to no avail. Higuchi kicks his legs for several long seconds. The last of his air escape and he convulses, then goes still.

Several moments of quiet pass. Near breaks it.

‘ _we’ll need to get him out of the tank’_ Near tells Light, turning away. _‘it will get gross when he starts decomposing_.’

_‘come, I’ll help you out. I know you don’t like having legs, but L is going to take us to the beach where our kind are washing up the most. There’s a reporter meeting us there who will take pictures and make sure the world knows about us, about what is happening to us, to our home.’_

Light half expects some kind of indictment of their faith in L and the other humans to keep their word. They half think they deserve it for allowing themself to believe the word of humans, but they also don’t have many other choices. 

Light supposes if L falls through, they will just have to kill him.

Instead, Near blinks. 

‘ _we’re going to the beach_?’

Light pauses, ‘ _haven’t you seen the ocean before?_ ’

‘ _of course, I’ve stayed in many places with large windows and scenic views_.’

From windows only then. 

Something begins to glow a faint blue white, but Light chalks it up to his own malfunctioning glow in the aftermath of such a stressful turn of events. 

_‘I think you’ll like -’_

_‘light.’_

_‘I mean it. It may be unsuitable now, but we can -’_

_‘light, behind you!’_

Near’s urgent, uncharacteristically emotive shout is enough to set Light fully on edge. 

They spin instantly, having begun to sense a new and hostile presence, and reel back in horror.

Higuchi is alive. 

But more than that, he is changing. 

He stretches out, a boney fins growing out of the backs of his arms and his legs as other parts of his limbs dissolve to ash. His head, which was too large for his body to begin with, expands and grows more translucent and sallow. Long thin spines grow from his torso and shoulders, criss crossing in dozens of glowing needles.

He turns on Near and Light, eyes bulging and opaque. The last part to form is a fleshy growth between his eyes, until a distractingly bright lure dangles before them.

_‘always hated that part.’_

Higuchi’s electric voice cracks with disuse. He takes a few experimental snaps of his giant underbite, an abundance of teeth clicking and gnashing. 

_‘part of why I stayed human for so long, ha ha ha!’_

Light disregards the inclination to process what this revelation means, their eyes darting up, searching for an escape route through the tangle of Near’s lethal tendrils. Near’s eyes are wide, his form tense as he stares at Higuchi’s new form, disbelieving. 

Higuchi turns toward Near, bobbing eerily through the water all the while, coming closer.

‘ _don’t worry, Nate, I forgive you. we all want freedom. I’m proud actually, I wasn’t sure you had it in you. but you’re just like me. a survivor! just stand back now, so I can take care of our little eel problem, and I’ll buy you whatever you like when we get back to the mainland.’_

The anglerfish smiles crookedly and much too wide, swiveling toward Light. 

‘ _been a while since I’ve eaten anyone the old-fashioned way. what a throwback!’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did you see it coming?


	8. they just turned back, marched into the sea

Higuchi strikes.

Light assesses his best course of action while he dodges Higuchi’s short, clumsy motions. His strength is usually the element of surprise, and while he doesn’t have that here, the glow of his bait is more distracting than it should be.

They do their best to emit their own glow in the tank. They try for green to take the strain off of their eyes, but they’re too angry to control the hue accurately. Instead, they fill the water with a harsh, alarming red, contrasting to Higuchi’s awful and hypnotic stark white glow.

In open water, Light could flee, or get behind the angler fish before he made his bumbling turn, but trapped in this small space with jellyfish tentacles to avoid, Higuchi has the upper hand.

His teeth catch the fins at the end of Light’s tail. 

They hiss and jerk back sharply and go cold at the sight of a scrap of their fin caught in Higuchi’s teeth. They can only hope that it won’t impair their movement too much. 

Light decides they need a distraction of their own if they are going to make it through this. 

Perhaps if they get him talking -

‘ _ your own kind’ _ Light bares their teeth, easing around one of Near’s tentacles carefully.

_ ‘hey now, I didn’t start it,’ _ Higuchi snaps his teeth inches away as Light darts away. ‘ _ I was caught just like you, but I killed the human who owned me and learned how to make it in this world. like I told you, eat or be eaten.’ _

Higuchi’s lure seems to grow brighter, and Light has to put more concentration into avoiding it than they would like to admit. They float in their positions, still and ready.

_ ‘I’m not a monster,’  _ Higuchi says, ‘ _ I just know what they like _ .’

In the radiance of Higuchi’s lure, Light recalls the sun glaring down upon the surface above them the day Sayu was taken. Some things are beautiful and terrible all at once.

‘ _ I killed your monsters, _ ’ Light sneers. ‘ _ and now I will kill you too _ .’

Higuchi’s eyes widen a fraction. 

Then they narrow, brow furrowing deeply as he springs forward again.

Light sends themself backward to avoid those teeth, but their depth perception is off, the unrelenting white glow wearing on their eyes. An awful stinging sensation jolts them suddenly, and it burns all the way through their right arm. They jerk back, acutely aware of their mistake.

‘ _ careful’  _ Near clicks sharply, too late. 

Light clutches their arm where a red line is already forming from their shoulder to their elbow.

‘ _ those won’t kill you’ _

_ Those  _ won’t. 

Light had thought as much.

Near has a series of thin oral arms around the rim of his bell-shaped body; these are responsible for the searing pain that rings through Light’s arm. Then toward the center there are thicker tentacles, almost frilly in their nature, lovely, swaying like seaweed in the current.

They had known as soon as they shared a tank that they should avoid touching them at all costs, but the extent of it was something Near had only hinted at. They’d warned Light not to touch, and that had been enough. They had always been so cautious, always keeping their distance. Light supposes that the danger is part of the appeal, for Higuchi, having a pet that can technically kill him and yet always just a couple feet shy of being able to act on it. 

If they would even dare to try.

‘ _ Nate, make this easy on me, would you? ’  _ Highuchi goads, stalking closer to where Light has retreated to. ‘ _ we’ve got a plane to catch.’ _

Near is quiet in response, the curtain of long hair hiding their face.

Light grits their teeth and tucks their arm close to their chest. Their glow darkens a shade or two despite themselves, making Higuchi’s lure seem brighter. 

Higuchi chuffs in irritation, water glugging in his maw.

Leap. 

Dodge.

Lunge.

Swerve.

Light has the stamina and agility to avoid him for quite some time, but his injuries have made him slower. Higuchi’s teeth catch their fin again, not far from the first.

Still, they manage to get away and twist around the trails of venomous vines, using them as an obstacle. Light can get closer to them than Higuchi, who staggers and bobs too frequently to risk it.

Higuchi growls in frustration and turns his pale eyes on Near.

‘ _aren’t you listening? I know you’re not really_ _brainless under all that hair. Don’t I get you all the books you want? All the toys? I’ll get you anything. a bigger tank maybe? you got it. we just gotta take care of a little problem first.’_

All of the movement in the water means that the tendrils move too, ebbing and flowing, offering Light protection one moment and then giving Higuchi an opening the next.

Another snap of those teeth too close for comfort.

Light has to spin toward the surface to avoid the next chomp of Higuchi’s massive jaws, but their damaged tail isn’t giving them as much control. He careens into the clear wall of the tank, their

They can’t tell how much they’re losing for all the red light, but they are getting dizzier, and the white glow is becoming more effective with every moment that passes. 

It sways, and Light’s eyes ache to follow it.

They are too slow this time.

Hichuchi sinks his teeth into their fins firmly and they have to flail to shake him off. They yell as he rips the flesh of his tail in the process.

Being sent backwards seems to put some fright into Higuchi as he struggles to right himself. His lure bobs as Light bleeds into the water.

‘ _ bribery not doing it for you?’  _ Higuchi snarls. _ ‘fine, how about this? I eat your friend, and when I get out of here, I’ll eat you. in some places, jellyfish is a delicacy -’ _

The trophy Light had bludgeoned Higuchi without in the air makes a splash above their heads. It’s heavy enough that it sinks quickly, but not heavily enough to do lasting damage to him. It lands on his head with an impact that pulses through the water.

It is enough to distract Higuchi, to set his ungainly body off center, and make him thrash in pain-fueled rage.

‘ _ imbeciles! all of you! bribery not doing it for you, Nate? fine, how about this? I eat your friend, and when I get out of here, I’ll eat you. jellyfish is a delicacy -’ _

Light snaps their tail like a whip. 

Finally able to get close enough for an attack, they move so quickly that the water around them sways with the force of it, sending Higuchi a meter away and firmly into Nate’s tentacles.

_ ‘Nate _ -’

Higuchi goes silent and rigid, stunned in a tangle of white vines and ruffles.

A few moments later, he goes limp.

Perhaps Light is imagining the quietly disturbed expression on Nate’s face. If they are unsettled by having killed Higuchi, however indirectly, they do not share it with Light then.

‘ _ gross’  _ is all Near says, peeling themself away from what is left of their captivity.

-

Quillish commandeers a helicopter to extricate them from the mansion. They find Mihael and Mail tied up and sedated in the hall, and Stephen helps hoist them into their seats. He reveals he is part of the islander’s rebellion, and a large part of how they were able to free Misa.

The helicopter takes off and Light can see the channel, they can see the sunlight sparkle on the water, and the oddly pleasant prisms cast by the oil seeping along the shore.

They never do get to the beach on time. 

-

Naomi releases an article the next day, her first in three years after being blacklisted.

The front page is a photograph of Misa. They are sitting on a rock in a somewhat classic pose for the mermaids of legend, the difference being there is a plastic net draped over them like a veil.

It stirs people, but they don’t believe at first. 

Claims of doctored pictures and deep fake videos. Misa tours the world and Kiyomi does as many interviews as possible in an attempt to convince the common mainlanders of their validity.

Misa becomes the face of the  _ merma  _ people, showing their transformation to as many people as possible. They make it something of a dance, one that moves the hearts and minds of many.

Kiyomi makes appearances, attends fundraisers, and gives speeches. Naomi documents the lives of  _ merma _ . She publishes a book of their biographies.

Largely due to the Sovereign's lobbyists, the book is stocked in the fiction section for over a year.

She publishes a second.

-

“How can we be expected to believe -”

“- it’s all a very nice show, but they are misleading the people with a magic act -”

“-can’t fake something like that, be reasonable -”

“You can fake anything these days, people, listen to yourselves!”

“- which is fine, whatever, but then why haven’t we heard of them before now?”

“What, next you’re going to superglue a cone to a horses head and ask me to give money for unicorn welfare? If you believe that, then I have a few other things to sell you, ha!”

“ -this isn’t  _ news _ , it’s a publicity stunt, they just want -”

“Breaking news! Another thing the government’s been lying to us about.”

“Most of our ocean is still unexplored, so I suppose it’s not impossible, but I don’t think -”

“ - even if there were some kind of species -”

“Are they trying to say all fish are people, or something? Sounds like a load of -”

“ - wouldn’t be human, right? So trying to advocate for their welfare when there are real, human problems to deal with is actually rather dispicable when you think about it -”

-

There comes a time when the tide turns, though at this point Light has learned four human languages in full and has consumed hundreds of books. 

A phenomenon of suicidal people choosing to drown themselves and see if they return as  _ merma  _ draws attention to their plight.

Doubt turns to public outrage.

Soon, the majority of people believe. Not long after, the nonbelievers are part of an absurd sliver of deniers, too stuck in their ways to ever change.

Quillish funds an organization devoted to finding and assisting  _ merma  _ in need, devoted to cleaning up the ocean and otherwise saving the planet.

Finally there is some traction, but it brings a wave of other complications and debates.

-

“However they got here, trafficking or not,” a newsman smarms in an interview. “They are not citizens, so they should go back where they came from.”

Kiyomi keeps her cool, just barely. “The ocean isn’t safe to live in any more. Your news station is owned by one of the conglomerates that has made sure of that.”

“Regardless of how it happened, the fact remains, their presence in our country is illegal.”

“So you’re saying that their very existence is a crime.”

“I’m saying,” he purses his lips and speaks carefully. “They don’t have birth records, because they didn’t have  _ births.  _ They’re inhuman.”

“You’re  _ inhuman _ ,” Kiyomi snaps back. “ _ They  _ are  _ kids. _ ”

“Please, they aren’t  _ all _ children.”

“They often were when they came here.”

He trudges on. “Besides, we hardly know anything about the life cycle of these creatures, so we have no way of knowing -”

“How old does someone have to be for it to be against the law to enslave them?” Kiyomi interrupts.

“Enslavement is disingenuous terminology. You just want to come across like a freedom fighter, when you’re actually just virtue signalling.”

“Virtue signalling is what your corporate sponsors and associated politicians do when they pretend to care about freedom and justice, this is literally just doing the right thing.”

“You said yourself the ocean isn’t safe to live in anymore. They’re  _ creating jobs _ .”

“They are ruining families, erasing cultures, and  _ killing people _ .”

“I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

“On whether or not  _ merma  _ have died as a result of actions you’re currently defending, or whether or not  _ merma  _ should be considered  _ people _ in the first place?”

“On the subject of killing people, we still haven’t learned anything more about the deaths of those researchers -”

“You mean slave traders. Anglers.”

“Irregardless, it was one of these  _ merma _ , or possibly an entire group of them, committing violence against men and women who were just doing their jobs. There are bad people on both sides.”

“Just doing as they were told,” Kiyomi sighs, “As excuses for genocide go, it’s certainly a classic.”

“You’re evading the question.”

“You didn’t ask a question, you made an alleged claim to distract from the original point.”

“The public has a right to know -”

“No one knows who Kira is. We may  _ never _ know. What we  _ do _ know is that best way to keep slave traders from being murdered is to stop funding them and hold the CEOs that invest in human trafficking accountable, as well as the Lawmakers that enable them, wouldn’t you say?”

-

Naomi wins a pulitzer. Kiyomi wins the nobel peace prize. Misa puts out an album and wins a number of music awards, acting as the face for numerous  _ merma _ organizations.

Mihael leads an anti-Sovereign movement, and is considered a terrorist by the pro-Sovereign media, which he considers its own reward. Mail helps, and uses his computer skills to forge birth records for  _ merma  _ while on the run. 

L, Light, and Near help put a few powerful people in prison, for which there is no acclaim. They dodge assassination and kidnapping attempts on several occasions. 

Things get worse faster than they get better. 

Storms wreak havoc, fires rage, waters rise, people suffer. 

They still have not found Sayu.

-

“There are hundreds of reports from the tsunami and hurricane victims -”

“ -power outages that are not being taken seriously -”

“ -without access to food or water.”

“ - overflowing hospitals may be responsible for -”

“We have yet to see improvement on the situation in regards to  _ merma  _ being held in several facilities without charges, and the conditions -”

“While defunding the disaster relief programs put in place, the Sovereign is enjoy a vacation in -”

“ -rather than suffer the effects of the virus, many sick and elderly are taking to the sea to -”

“- the shooter is believed to be human, though we can’t be sure until -”

“The most recent earthquake, the casualties of which have yet to -”

“We regret to inform our viewers of -”

-

There is a call from a  _ merma _ refuge program that they started years before. The woman on the line delivers the news.

“We found her.”

Though Light has been using their legs for quite some time now, they fall to their knees before Sayu’s chair and clasp their hands tightly. 

Sayu is not the same, but then, no one is.

-

There is nothing to do but live.

Sayu paints, and gets her smile back. Miheal leads expeditions to hunt down the remaining Sovereign followers that have formed small but violent militias. Mail provides intel and tech support to help in the endeavor. Near lounges in the saltwater pool, plays with toys, and does puzzles until they come back to visit, offering unsolicited strategic advice when they do.

Quillish cooks, until he passes away.

Naomi documents as much as she can, rides her bike, and assists Mihael from time to time. Kiyomi talks and talks until there is nothing left to say. She retires to the quiet, reading novels and playing Sudoku. Misa falls in love, more than once, and has a child. They sing and dance every day. They only poison people who deserve it.

There is little to solve these days. L and Light read and write and learn languages together. They create their own private competitions and debate and laugh.

-

The islands are overwhelmed by the sea, and the land that’s left is close to uninhabitable. The sea is sick, as is the land, as is most of the population, in ways that are impossible to quantify. Scientists try for some time anyway, but studying the decay does little to address the root of the issue.

People die. If they’re lucky, or clever, they drown. 

Some of them come back, some do not.

The ones that survive start to conjugate in exponentially increasing numbers as the natural disasters become constant. The families they have forged for themselves in lives of hardship join them. As they lose more people to the insidious powers above, they get angry and desperate.

One day, during the hottest summer yet -

-just like every summer has been the hottest summer yet for so long now- 

\- the Sovereign falls. 

The crooked cross is known as the symbol of hate it had always been.

To Light victory tastes like champagne and whatever sweet thing L has just eaten. They bask in the glow of the last fireworks and take their time with each other in the grass beneath a dying tree.

It is a good day.

Much too late, but so very good just the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait. hope it was worth it~


End file.
